Meänmaa

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 highland Swedish municipality Gällivare is sometimes also considered part of Meänmaa due to the large share of Meänkieli-speaking population in it.

The cultural environment around the Torne River is characterized by agriculture, reindeer farming and fishing.

[citation needed] On the Swedish side of the valley, Finnish was still the majority language until the 20th century.

The originally Finnish-speaking land area is far greater than the actual river valley; it extends as far west as Gällivare.