Övertorneå is in the Tornedalen valley, on the border with Finland. The Tornedalians are renowned for their hospitality - coffee parties and saunas are very much a part of the Tornedalen culture. Most people in Tornedalen are bilingual, speaking both Swedish and Meänkieli. The Tornedalians’ Meänkieli is similar to Finnish and it also has many words of its own that are not unlike Swedish. Meänkieli is an official minority language in Sweden.
The municipality of Övertorneå has about 5,000 inhabitants. The whole municipality covers 2,400 km2, with the Polar Circle cutting through
the northern part of the municipality. Övertorneå is an ecomunicipality – it is almost free to travel by bus here, with an annual season ticket
costing SEK 300 this year.
Övertorneå is beside the Finnish border. The bridge over the Torneälven River takes you to Aavasaka in Finland. On the Finnish side of the river
is the municipality of Ylitornio, an active municipality with about 5,000 inhabitants. There are also bridge links with Finland in Pello
(fifty kilometres north of Övertorneå). During the winter there are ice roads over the Torneälven River in Övertorneå, in the villages of Hedenäset,
Juoksengi and Svanstein.
Övertorneå Municipality’s website: www.overtornea.se
Ylitornio Municipality’s website: www.ylitornio.fi
Utbildning Nord is in Övertorneå, opposite the Gränsälvsgymnasium school and the library, at Skolvägen 12.
In ÖvertorneIn Övertorneå there are courses in IT, economics, electrical technology, refrigeration technology, media, metal and ventilation
technology, CNC and robot technology, vehicle technology, tourism, restaurant and catering, and auxiliary nursing.
Click on the link to find a Pdf map of the school campus in Övertorneå and Hedenäset
In Hedenäset, 17 kilometres on the road to Haparanda, you can find Utbildning Nord at Skolbacken 14. There are courses in various
trades, construction technology and hairdressing.
AIR
The flight time from Stockholm to Luleå is about an hour. From Luleå Airport it is 160 km to Övertorneå, two hours by car or bus.
Luleå Airport – 160 km från Övertorneå
Norwegian, tel. +46 770-45 77 00 and www.norwegian.se
SAS, tel. +46 770-72 77 27 and www.sas.se
ROAD
There are buses from Luleå to Övertorneå, usually via Kalix.
Länstrafiken i Norrbotten, customer service and traffic information: +46 771-10 01 10
Contact via e-mail: lanstrafiken@ltnbd.se and website www.ltnbd.se/se
RAIL
There is a railway station in Luleå with good connections with the rest of Sweden
SJ, tel. +46 771-75 75 75 and www.sj.se
AIR
The total travel time from Helsinki to Övertorneå is two and a half hours, either via Kemi-Torneå or Rovaniemi.
Kemi-Torneå Airport – 96 km from Övertorneå
Finnair, tel. +4The total travel time from Helsinki to Övertorneå is two and a half hours,
either via Kemi-Torneå or Rovaniemi.
Kemi-Torneå Airport – 96 km from Övertorneå Finnair, tel. +46 771-781 100 and www.finnair.com Finncomm Airlines, tel. +358 942 43 20 03 and www.fc.fi
Rovaniemi Airport – 115 km from Övertorneå Blue1 Finnair, tel. +46 771-78 11 00
and www.finnair.com Blue1 www.blue1.fi
ROAD
find numerous bus connections at www.matkahuBus: Kemi-Aavasaksa and Rovaniemi – Aavasaksa, www.goldline.fi
Kemi-Torneå, www.veljeksetsalmela.fi You can find numerous bus
connections at www.matkahuolto.fi/
RAIL FROM THE SOUTH
You can take the train to Kemi and continue from there, for example, by bus up
to Aavasaksa. During certain periods there are night trains between Helsinki and
Kolari that stop in Ylitornio. See the website www.vr.fi