European route E4 passes from north to south through Sweden from the border with Finland, with a total length of 1,590 kilometres (990 mi). The Finnish part lies entirely within Tornio in northern Finland, and is only 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long. The Swedish part traverses most of Sweden except the extreme north and the west coast region, and is commonly considered the highway backbone of Sweden, since it passes in the vicinity of many of its largest cities and through the capital Stockholm. In particular, it is the mainline road used by most vehicle traffic, both cars and lorries, between the north (Norrland) and south of Sweden or beyond.
Tornio is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of 1,348.83 square kilometres (520.79 sq mi), of which 161.59 km2 (62.39 sq mi) is water. The population density is 18.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (48/sq mi), with a total population of 21,837. It borders the Swedish municipality of Haparanda. In spite of being a border city Tornio is unilingually Finnish with a negligible number of native Swedish speakers, although this does not count Finnish bilinguals.
Meänmaa, or sometimes Torne Valley or Torne River Valley lies at the border of Sweden and Finland. It is named after the Torne River flowing through the valley and into the Gulf of Bothnia. Geographically the townships and municipalities that make up the area are Haparanda, Övertorneå, Pajala and Kiruna in Sweden, and Tornio, Ylitornio, Pello, Kolari, Muonio and Enontekiö in Finland. Culturally the Swedish municipality Gällivare is also considered part of Meänmaa due to the large share of Meänkieli-speaking population in it. Torne Valley should not be confused with Torne Valley Sub-region.
Mariestad is a locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 15,591 inhabitants in 2010. It was until 1997 the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an episcopal see in the Church of Sweden between 1583 and 1646.
Åtvidaberg is a locality and the seat of Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,859 inhabitants in 2010. The name is a compound word which can be translated as "towards wide mountains" or, jokingly, "ate wide mountains", thanks to the homonym nature of the Swedish word "åt".
Jan Olof Lennart Olsson was a popular Swedish writer and a journalist for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter where he elevated the short sketch to an art. He was married to Margareta Sjögren, a journalist at another Swedish newspaper.
Sweden does not currently use the euro as its currency and has no plans to replace the krona in the near future. Sweden's Treaty of Accession of 1994 made it subject to the Treaty of Maastricht, which obliges states to join the eurozone once they meet the necessary conditions. Sweden maintains that joining the ERM II is voluntary, and has chosen to remain outside pending public approval by a referendum, thereby intentionally avoiding the fulfilment of the adoption requirements.
The Haparanda Line is a 165-kilometer (103 mi) long railway line between Boden and Haparanda in Sweden. There is a 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long section from Haparanda to Torneå, which is on the Finnish side of the Finland–Sweden border. The line is the only Swedish railway to the Finnish border. The single track line is used exclusively by freight trains. Passengers must use buses from Luleå to the Haparanda bus station, where there are bus connections to Kemi in Finland. Interrail tickets are valid on these buses.
Nikkala is a locality situated in Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 435 inhabitants in 2010.
Lövsta is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 261 inhabitants in 2010.
Karungi is a locality situated in Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 232 inhabitants in 2010. The language most spoken in the village is Meänkieli, which the first of April 2000 officially was declared as a minority language in Sweden.
Seskarö is a locality situated in Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 491 inhabitants in 2010. It is located on the island with the same name which is about 20 km2 and situated in the Haparanda Archipelago. Since 1978, it has been connected to the mainland through a bridge, via some intermediate islands.
Toarp is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Oxie, Malmö Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. It was a separate locality until 2015 and had 219 inhabitants in 2010.
Haparanda FF is a football club located in Haparanda.
The Haparanda archipelago is a group of 792 Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. The islands are used for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the winter.
HT Bandy was a Swedish-Finnish bandy. The club was located to Haparanda in Sweden and Tornio in Finland, two towns on each side of the Swedish-Finnish border. It was founded in 2008 when the two clubs in the towns decided to merge formally, after having had a deep cooperation for many years.
Jan-Gunnar Isberg is a retired Swedish Army brigadier general. Isberg has served extensively abroad, in Cyprus, Lebanon, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Norrbotten Engineer Corps and the Haparanda Border Regiment, deputy force commander of MONUC and brigade commander of the Ituri Brigade and the Kivu Brigade.
