Torne Valley - History and Culture

History and Culture

The cultural environment around the River Torne is characterized by agriculture, reindeer farming and fishing. The Torne valley area was one of the oldest inhabited areas in northern Finland. Archeological excavations have revealed evidence of permanent settlements at least from the 11th century, but there are signs of earlier settlements. Agriculture has long been practiced on the fertile flooding meadows by the river. Trading routes followed the river and some trading centers were formed. One of the centers since 16th century was the island Oravaisensaari at Vojakkala. Today, the main center is the twin city of Haparanda/Tornio.

The Finnish and Swedish sides of the river were once one cultural entity, as before 1809 they were both parts of Sweden. Once the current border between the two countries had been established, each side of the river has become influenced by the majority culture in its respective country, but still retains some traditional elements. As an example, on the Swedish side of the Torne Valley one still makes types of food, such as rieska, that are usually considered Finnish rather than Swedish.

Many of the towns and villages were built around the river, and some of those were thus split in two when Finland was ceded to Russia in 1809. There are still several villages that have the same name on the Swedish and Finnish sides of the river.