Pajala Municipality

Pajala kommun
Coat of arms
County	Norrbotten County
Province	Norrbotten
Seat	Pajala
Area  • Total area  • Land area	10th of 290 8,124.98[1] km² 7,916.52[1] km²
Population  • Total	261st of 290 6,522[2] inhabitants
Density  • Total	286th of 290 0.82 inhabitants/km²
Municipal code	{{{code}}}
Website	www.pajala.se

Pajala Municipality (Swedish: Pajala kommun) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, bordering Finland. Its seat is located in Pajala.

In 1884 Tärendö was detached from Pajala Municipality, forming a municipality of its own. In 1914 Pajala Municipality was once again split when Junosuando broke away. They were reunited in 1971, when Korpilombolo was added as well.

[edit] History

Its geographical location means that Pajala Municipality has always been a natural trading place, where people from Sweden, Finland and the native Sami people gathered. The annual Pajala market traces its history from the 18th century.

Pajala vicar's mansion.

The home of Lars Levi Læstadius is located in Pajala. It is the red house to the right, now designated as a museum. The yellow house in the middle was used as the vicar's mansion from 1850 up to recent times.

[edit] Geography

The municipality is one of Sweden's largest at around 8,000 km², or roughly the size of the historical province of Södermanland, which - compared to Pajala Municipality's population of approximately 6,500 - has more than one million inhabitants.

In Pajala is also Jupukkamasten, a 335 metre tall guyed mast for FM- and TV-transmission, which together with three other guyed masts of the same height is the tallest structure in Sweden.

[edit] Localities

There are four localities (or urban areas) in Pajala Municipality:^[3]

The municipal seat in bold

[edit] Sister cities

Pajala Municipality has three sister cities:^[4]

• Målselv, Norway
• Kolari, Finland
• Olenegorsk, Russia

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Statistics Sweden as of January 1, 2008
2. ^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2007
3. ^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005
4. ^ Official site (Swedish)

[edit] External links

• Pajala Municipality - Official site
• World's largest sundial in Pajala

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