Aavasaksa

W1

Overlooking the Aavasaksa from southeast

Detail

The Aavasaksa (Swedish Aavasaksa; historically also Avasaxa ) is a 242 m high mountain in the north of Finland. It is located on the territory of the municipality in the province of Lapland Ylitornio a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. It is encircled by the river Tengeliönjoki, which flows on the western slope of the mountain in the Tornionjoki that represents the border between Finland and Sweden.

From the top of Aavasaksa can look widely in the flat countryside, even he is the southernmost point of Finland, from which one can observe in the summer, the midnight sun. In the 18th century he was the target of a scientific expedition of the French Maupertuis, in the 19th century it was established as one of the measurement points of the Struve arc. As one of 34 selected points of this grid for measuring the Aavasaksa was included in the list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity in 2005. In addition, since 1994 he is one of the 27 official landscapes in Finland.