Övertorneå ( fit, Matarengi; fi, Matarenki) is a locality and the seat of

Övertorneå Municipality Övertorneå Municipality (, ) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, bordering Finland. Its seat is located in Övertorneå. Until the Finnish War (1808–1809) Övertorneå and the Finnish Ylitornio were a single parish. Fol ...

in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,917 inhabitants in 2010. It is located at the shore of the

Torne River The Torne, also known as the Tornio ( fi, Tornionjoki, sv, Torne älv, , se, Duortneseatnu, fit, Tornionväylä), is a river in northern Sweden and Finland. For approximately half of its length, it defines the border between these two countr ...

, opposite to their Finnish twin town

Ylitornio Ylitornio ( sv, Övertorneå; sme, Badje-Duortnus; smn, Pajetuárnus) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland along the Tornio River, opposite the Swedish town of Övertorneå about by road to its northwest. T ...

. Övertorneå means "Upper Torneå", based on a division of the Torneå parish in two parts in the 16th century. Until the border between Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

was drawn at the Torne River in 1809, the two villages on both sides of the river were one. From 1809 till 1917, this represented the Swedish border to Russia.

Gallery

Image:Matarengi Church exterior.jpg, Matarengi Church Image:Övertorneå järnvägsstation.jpg, Övertorneå railway station Image:Röda kvarn Övertorneå.jpg, Röda Kvarn Image:PanoTorne.jpg, A view from Aavasaksa, across the border river.

Sports

Övertorneå is home of NHL forward

Linus Omark Linus Karl Heimer Omark (born 5 February 1987) is a Swedes, Swedish professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger currently with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). Omark has previously playe ...

. Another well known ice-hockey player from the settlement is Daniel Henriksson. The following sports clubs are located in Övertorneå: * Övertorneå SK

Notable residents

* Mathilda Fogman (1835-1921), a Swedish and Finnish midwife, was an influential spiritual leader within

Laestadianism Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperance ...

in Övertorneå.Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland)
/ref> * Brita Klemetintytär (1621-1700) lived in Övertorneå, where she followed in her father's footsteps and served as postmaster.

External links

References

Municipal seats of Norrbotten County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Övertorneå Municipality Norrbotten Finland–Sweden border crossings {{Norrbotten-geo-stub