Pello (formerly Turtola) is a municipality of Finland. It is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the Arctic Circle in the western part of the province of Lapland, and is part of the Lapland region. The municipality is on the national border with Sweden, by the Tornionjoki-river. The municipality has a population of 3,203 (31 October 2024)[2] and covers an area of 1,864.66 square kilometres (719.95 sq mi) of which 126.12 km2 (48.70 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 1.84 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.8/sq mi).

Pello
Municipality
Pellon kunta
Pello kommun
Coat of arms of Pello
Location of Pello in Finland
Location of Pello in Finland
Coordinates: 66°46.5′N 023°58′E / 66.7750°N 23.967°E / 66.7750; 23.967
Country Finland
RegionLapland
Sub-regionTornio Valley
Charter1867
Government
 • Municipal managerSami Baas
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total
1,864.66 km2 (719.95 sq mi)
 • Land1,738.15 km2 (671.10 sq mi)
 • Water126.12 km2 (48.70 sq mi)
 • Rank35th largest in Finland
Elevation
64 m (210 ft)
Population
 (2024-10-31)[2]
 • Total
3,203
 • Rank209th largest in Finland
 • Density1.84/km2 (4.8/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish97.1% (official)
 • Swedish0.7%
 • Others2.2%
Population by age
 • 0 to 149.3%
 • 15 to 6449.7%
 • 65 or older41%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.pello.fi Edit this at Wikidata

The municipality is unilingually Finnish, according to the legal definition in Finland.

Konttajärvi is in this municipality.

It is served by the Pello railway station.

History

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The name of Pello is ultimately derived from the word pelto, field; which may have been the original name of the village. The weak grade stem of pelto is pello- (e.g. pellon - genitive case form of pelto), through which the name was corrupted to its current form. The name of Turtola refers to a male name Turto, a Finnish form of the Scandinavian name Tord.[citation needed]

During the Late Middle Ages and the 16th century, Pello was the northernmost Finnish village in the Tornio Valley. It was a part of the Tornio parish until 1606, when said parish was divided into Alatornio and Ylitornio, from which the latter included Turtola and Pello.

After Russia conquered Finland in 1809, Ylitornio was split into two parts. The villages of Pello and Turtola were also split, which is why there is a Pello and a Turtola (Svanstein) in Sweden. The northern parts of Ylitornio became a separate parish and municipality in 1867, called Turtola after its most significant village at the time. The village of Pello later surpassed Turtola, thus the municipality was renamed to Pello in 1949.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,635,560 at the end of October 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 19 November 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja e-kirja kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 325+468. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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