Salla, known as Kuolajärvi until 1936, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is . The nearby settlement of Sallatunturi is home to the Salla Ski Resort.

History

Salla is in the Eastern Lapland and as a border area was affected by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

troops invaded Finland at Salla during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

but were stopped by the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

(see Battle of Salla). Parts of the municipality were ceded to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

after the war. The ceded part is sometimes called "Old Salla" or ''Vanha Salla''. During the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

the old town of Salla was on the Soviet side of the border. The German XXXVI Corps attacked the Soviet positions in an operation code-named '' Polarfuchs''. With the help of the Finnish 6th Division it managed to occupy all of the ceded territories. At the end of the war the German troops were pushed out of Lapland by Finnish troops in the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

. The following villages were ceded to the Soviet Union: Alakurtti, Korja (Korya), Kuolajärvi (

Kuoloyarvi Kuoloyarvi (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (an inhabited locality) in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located north of the Arctic Circle at an altitude of above sea level. It had no recorded pop ...

), Lampela, Sallansuu, Yläkurtti (Yulyakurtti), Sovajärvi (Sovayarvi), Tuutijärvi (Tuutiyarvi) and Vuorijärvi (Vuoriyarvi). In January 2021, the mayor of Salla, Erkki Parkkinen, launched a bid to host the

2032 Summer Olympics The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032 or Bris2032, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 23 July to 8 August 2032, with Brisbane, Queensland, ...

to raise awareness of climate change and highlight the threat the climate crisis poses to Salla and its ecosystem, which is dependent on low temperatures for most of the year.

Transportation

Salla is the terminus of a freight-only

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

from

Kemijärvi Kemijärvi (; ; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the sub-region of Eastern Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika Halonen, who moved from the region of Oulu, fro ...

. In 2006, the Finnish Rail Administration announced proposals to close the line.Finnish Railway News – Year 2006
/ref> The railway formerly extended beyond Salla into Russia, but has never carried international traffic.

Geography

Neighbour municipalities are

Kuusamo Kuusamo (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in Koillismaa, the northeastern part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The municipality h ...

Pelkosenniemi Pelkosenniemi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Lapland in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water ...

Posio Posio is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi, Ra ...

and

Savukoski Savukoski (; ; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , which is the lowest in relation to ...

Climate

Salla has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

( Dfc). Summer days are mild with about 1/3 of all days experiencing precipitation with nights tending to be cool. Winters are very long, cold, snowy, and extremely cloudy, lasting from the beginning of October through April, with mid-winter thaws being rare, and cold snaps relatively common. Spring and Autumn tend to be cool, not very variable, and short, lasting only a couple weeks to a few weeks in length. The low temperature record of Salla is -50 °C (-58 °F), which was recorded in Naruska in 1985. It was also the record of Finland until 1999. On 28 January 1999, the unofficial record of Finland, -54,3 °C (-65,7 °F), was recorded in Naruska.

Note

Historical places

In popular culture

Salla was referenced in the song ''66°50’N, 28°40’E'' by Finnish

death-doom Death-doom (also known as death-doom metal or doom-death) is a fusion genre of death metal and doom metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep death growl, growling vocals and double bass dr ...

band Swallow the Sun on their 2015 triple album ''Songs From the North I, II and III''.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Salla
– Official website {{Authority control Populated places established in 1857 Finland–Russia border crossings Municipalities of Lapland (Finland) 1857 establishments in Finland