Salla is a municipality of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of
and covers an area of km2 of
which km2
is water. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 is
PD/km2.

Soviet troops invaded Finland at Salla during the Winter War

Winter War

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 but were stopped by the Finnish Army

Finnish Army

The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...

 (see Battle of Salla

Battle of Salla (1939)

The Battle of Salla was fought between Finnish and Soviet troops near Salla in northern Finland during the Winter War. The Soviets had orders to advance through Salla to Kemijärvi and Sodankylä, and from there to Rovaniemi in just two weeks. From there they were to advance to Tornio and cut Finland...

). Parts of the municipality were ceded to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 after the war. The ceded part is sometimes called "Old Salla" or Vanha Salla. During the Continuation War

Continuation War

The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...

 the old town of Salla was on the Soviet side of the border. The German XXXVI Corps

German XXXVI Corps

The XXXVI Corps was a German military formation in World War II.It was formed in October 1939 and took part in the invasion of France. In August 1940 the corps was moved to southern Norway and from there to northern Finland....

 attacked the Soviet positions in an operation code-named Polarfuchs. With the help of the Finnish 6th Division

Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War)

The 6th Division was a unit of the Finnish Army during the Continuation War.-History:The 6th Division was attached to the German XXXVI Corps in Northern Finland in 1941. As part of Operation Arctic Fox the division attacked with the SS Division Nord and German 169th Infantry Division against Salla...

 it managed to occupy all of the ceded territories. At the end of the war the German troops were pushed out of Lapland by Finnish troops in the so called Lapland War

Lapland War

The Lapland War were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945, fought in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the...

.

The following villages were ceded to the Soviet Union: Korja (Korya), Kuolajärvi (Kuoloyarvi

Kuoloyarvi

Kuoloyarvi is the rural locality in Kandalakshskiy District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The village is located beyond the Arctic circle. Located at a height of 191 m above sea level....

), Kurtti, Lampela, Sallansuu, Sovajärvi, Tuutijärvi and Vuorijärvi (Vuoriyarvi).

Salla is the terminus of a freight-only railway line

Rail transport in Finland

The Finnish railway network consists of a total of 5,919 km of railways built with Russian gauge track. Passenger trains are operated by the private state-owned VR Group. They serve all the major cities and many rural areas, though railway connections are available to fewer places than bus...

 from Kemijärvi

Kemijärvi

Kemijärvi is a municipality of Finland and the northern-most town in Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

. In 2006, the Finnish Rail Administration

Finnish Rail Administration

The Finnish Transport Agency is responsible for the maintenance of Finland's transport system. The Agency took over from the Finnish Rail Administration and parts of the work of the former Finnish Maritime Administration and the Finnish Road Administration on 1 January 2010.- Rail...

announced proposals to close the line. The line formerly extended beyond Salla into Russia.

External links

• Municipality of Salla – Official website