[3] Haparanda is located near the Sweden-Finland border, at the northerly extreme of the Swedish coastline, as well as the easternmost point in Sweden, far removed from large cities.

Its summers are very warm 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 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.

At that time the town of Tornio was dominated by Swedish-speaking merchants and craftsmen, forming a linguistic island in a Finnish-speaking countryside.

[5] Into the early twentieth century Haparanda enjoyed commercial and political significance out of proportion to its size because of its position at the mouth of the Torne river at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia.

Arctic and Antarctic expeditions of the 19th and 20th centuries, including that of Admiral Peary of the US, wore furs supplied by Hermansons, whose shop still stands in Haparanda, albeit closed now.

Some Swedes have also experienced prejudice on the Finnish side of the border, by Finns, due to the worsening pandemic situation in Sweden.

The two networks use different track gauges, requiring all freight wagons crossing the border to have their cargo reloaded or their bogies exchanged.

This single store attracts a claimed two million visitors every year, and has triggered "piggy-back" development of other large-scale retail outlets and a prototypical US-style shopping mall on the site.

Notable buildings besides the rail station (1918) include the Stadshotell (hotel and former town hall) of 1900, which has a first floor stateroom with magnificent chandeliers of Orrefors glass, and the landmark pepperpot-shaped watertower,[12] erected in 1920.

Haparanda's uncompromisingly modern church is by Bengt Larsson of the ELLT studio, and dates from 1967, its predecessor being destroyed by fire in 1964.