The Torne

also known as the Tornio (Finnish: Tornionjoki, Swedish: Torne älv, Torneälven, Northern Sami: Duortneseatnu, Meänkieli: Tornionväylä), is a river in northern Sweden and Finland. For approximately half of its length it contains the border between these two countries. It rises at Lake Torne (Swedish: Torneträsk) near the border with Norway and flows generally southeast for a distance of 522 kilometres (324 mi) into the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the largest river in Norrbotten both by length and by watershed area.

The source of the Torne is generally believed to be Lake Torne (Swedish: Torneträsk) near the border with Norway. But the main feeder of this lake is Abiskojåkka, flowing out of Abiskojaure, which is mainly fed by Kamajåkka, coming from Lake Gamajávri. This lake's major tributary is Válfojohka. That river comes from Lake Válfojávri in Norway's Nordland Fylke, but near to that lake it is joined by a nameless, longer stream, according to official Swedish maps fed by a small glacier, 1189 metres above sea level (68°16′02″N 18°07′41″E).

In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809, when Sweden lost the areas which constitute present-day Finland to Imperial Russia, the river was together with the Muonio River and Könkämä River chosen as border between Sweden and the new Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, thus splitting the provinces of Lappland and Västerbotten.

According to the treaty, the border shall follow the deepest part of the river. Near Haparanda/Tornio the border was fixed in the treaty, partly on land, so the city of Tornio would belong to Russia. Once every 25 years, a commission of Swedish and Finnish representatives shall review this border. This means that the border can move, such as in 2006 when such a border change was undertaken.

Towns on the Torne often have both Swedish and Finnish names, like Haparanda (from Finnish Haaparanta, "Aspen Shore") and Tornio (from Swedish Torneå). Most names are originally Finnish.

Historically, the language used on both sides of the river was Finnish. In the late 19th century, schools were opened in both countries. Then there was a decision to make the Swedish part of area Swedish speaking by teaching the school children only written Swedish and allowing only Swedish to be spoken during lessons, sometimes also during breaks. As an effect, during the second half of the 20th century, Swedish was the dominant language on the Swedish side. The Finnish spoken in informal conversation is similar on both sides of the river, although some newer words differ. To support the traditional language on the Swedish side a new written language has been devised, Meänkieli. On the Finnish side only Finnish is used in written communication. These two languages differ considerably in spelling.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torne_(river)

So today we drove down from Levi to our North Savo base camp. Long day and quick blip from the border river. The trees you can see in the picture are in Sweden.