Haparanda

Haparanda
Haparanda railway station
Haparanda Show map of Norrbotten Haparanda Show map of Sweden
Coordinates: 65°50′N 024°08′E / 65.833°N 24.133°E / 65.833; 24.133Coordinates: 65°50′N 024°08′E / 65.833°N 24.133°E / 65.833; 24.133
Country	Sweden
Province	Norrbotten
County	Norrbotten County
Municipality	Haparanda Municipality
Area
• Total	4.43 km2 (1.71 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)
• Total	4,856
• Density	1,097/km2 (2,840/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Haparanda (Finnish: Haaparanta, meaning aspen beach) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda had a population of 4,856 in 2010, of out of a municipal total of 10,200 inhabitants.

Haparanda is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a city. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Haparanda is located at the northerly extreme of the Swedish coastline, and far removed from large cities. Its summers are very mild for a coastal location so far north, and winters are normally not extremely cold in spite of the relative proximity to the Arctic Circle.

The municipality itself, on the other hand, uses the term Haparanda stad (City of Haparanda) not only for the town itself, but for its whole territory (927 km² or 358 sq mi). At 24° 8' E, Haparanda is Sweden's easternmost settlement.

When Sweden ceded Finland to Russia in 1809, the Finnish–Swedish border was drawn along the Rivers Tornio and Muonio. The town of Tornio, located on the island Suensaari in the river delta became part of the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire as demanded by czar Alexander I. (Finland declared independence in 1917).

At that time the town of Tornio was dominated by Swedish-speaking merchants and craftsmen, forming a linguistic island in a Finnish-speaking countryside. After the war many of the Swedes started to develop the small village Haaparanta across the border instead (Haparanda and Tornio are within walking distance), eventually leaving Tornio unilingually Finnish. Haparanda was made a market town (köping) in 1821 and received its city charter in 1842.