Twin towns entwine

last updated 8 January 2015

Finnish-Swedish border

A Swedish and a Finnish town, separated nearly 200 years ago, have announced that they’re getting back together. The Swedish town of Tornio was split in two in 1809 in a border treaty with Russia, which then controlled what is now Finland. The Finnish half kept the name Tornio, but the Swedish half called itself Haparanda. Locals of the towns speak both Finnish and Swedish, and already share a high school and a water plant. Now they plan to build a common main street, merge their bus services, and use both currencies. But there’s no word yet on what the two cities will do about their different time zones.