FINOSE
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Jan S. Krogh's Geosite: Finland - Norway - Sweden (FINOSE)

Richard Montague of Germany pictured in April 2011 standing in front of the concrete FINOSE tripoint boundary cairn erected in 1897 near the shore of Golddajärvi.  Mr. Montague is standing on Finnish territory, behind him lies Norway and to the left of his position in the picture lies Sweden. This monument was built as late as in 1897, even if the boundary between Norway and Sweden as far northeast as to "Bihtošmaras" cairn, border marker 348, right south-southeast of Polmak (at 69°53' N 28°21' E), was finished demarcated as early as in 1766.  But the point, 250 Swedish ells (about 150 metres) west of border marker 294 (which until 1897 often was misinterpreted as the northernmost point of Sweden) was not agreed upon until the 1809 Treaty of Fredrikshamn – simply because Finland was Swedish territory until then. From 1810 the tripoint was marked as the midpoint between two small markers (both numbered "1")  put on each side of the outlet of Kuokimajoki Creek, which from this moment was renamed Rajajoki Creek ("Border Creek"). In 1897 these two small markers was reported not found and might have been lost.  
(Photo: © Richard Montague.)

Mr Montague at the Swedish side with King Oscar II's monogram and the Swedish national emblem – the Three Crowns.

And finally Mr Montague at the Norwegian side with King Oscar II's monogram and the Norwegian national emblem – the Norwegian Lion. Until 1905 King Oscar II ruled two kingdoms, each with its parliament. 

The first photo of the border cairn at Golddajávri, taken i 1897, when it marked the tripoint between Norway, Russia and Sweden. 1)

Note that the Imperial Russian coat-of-arms appear on the heartstone atop the monument in these photographs, where today the word Suomi appears.  "N II" stands for Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia.  The Finns changed the arms on the heartstone after Finland became a separate, independent country.

Photo of the offical border commission at the new-erected tripoint cairn (1897). 2)

This map by L. S. Delarochette published in 1794 shows the common Norwegian-Swedish border goes all the way up to the Lake Enare, according to the Norwegian-Dano claim. By this time the Norwegian-Swedish boundary was only demarcated until Polmak. Finland was at this time a part of Sweden.

Until 1809 the NORUSE tripoint was according to the Norwegian position situated about where FINORU now is located. The map also presents that Norway claimed land between Pasvik River and Fisherman Peninsula, about the same territories which in 1920 by Lenin was granted Finland.

Please find a full map over the area here.  Position 69° 03' 35.88712"N 20° 32' 55.09099"E  (EUREF89 datum).  
Map: © Statens Kartverk, Oslo, Norway.

This point is located almost 500 metres above sea-level.  The boundary is changing direction at boundary marker 294.

1901 Border Commission map with the Norway - Russia - Sweden tripoint marker named "The Koltajarve Column". Russian - Swedish border markers 1, 1A and 1B are also mapped.

Map of the Rajajoki Creek and surrounding after the execution of the work of the 1901 Joint Border Commssion.  The tripoint border was decided to be situated exactly in the middle of the Kuokimajoki Creek outlet. In 1810 it was demarcated first time when one border stone was put at each bank. 87 years later the tripoint cairn was erected.  This tripoint cairn has no number. 3)

The trifinium marker itself is accessible by a small wooden bridge from Finnish side. Distance from FINOSE to Rr 294 is 147,8 metres.

Official clickable map over the area (big range). 

Official clickable map over the area (small range). 

Official Finnish map over the trifinia area. Note that the map of the trifinia area does not correspond fully with the ortomap. 
(From Karttapaikka.)

The trifinium Finland - Norway - Sweden

The FINOSE trifinium (or tripoint) marker is located on the Norwegian boundary between boundary middle marker 293 Aa and boundary marker 294 in Lake Golddajávri. The marker itself does not have any number, but is often called "293A" or "293B", although this assignment was never was given. In Norwegian language it is only called Treriksrøysa (lit. "Three countries' cairn").

In 1897 a cairn was raised on the Norwegian - Russian border at Golddajávri. (Finland was then a part of Russia). The trifinium is making the final end of a valley beginning in the end of the Lyngen Fjord.  Sweden ceded Finland to Russia in 1809. Five years later, in 1814, the Dano-Norwegian Union ended and by the end of the same year Norway and Sweden came under one king. 
The last part of the Norwegian-Russian boundary, the leg from about Polmak to Grense Jakobselv River, was demarcated in 1826.  Finland declared her independence from Russia in 1917 and the boundary was again demarcated in 1920, both times without change of boundary cairn location. 
A minor modification of the trifinium cairn occured in 1926, and "1926" was engraved on the top stone ("heart stone") into Finnish side. On Norwegian and Swedish side it says 1901, which is the year when the heart stone was erected. In 1926 the cairn was brushed down, later the upper part was painted yellow. 

The best way to reach the point is from Finnish side. In summer a taxi boat is taking you from the small boat harbour at Siilastupa near the village of Kilpisjävri across Lake Kilpisjävri to Koltaluokta at Swedish side of the lake. From this point it is about 3 kilometres to walk to the trifinium. In summer the taxi boat sails from Siilastupa three times a day, at 10 AM, 2 PM and 6 PM.

FINOSE is the northernmost trifinium in the world, being only a few hundred metres ahead of FINORU!

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Mr Trond E. Espelund of the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Statkart) and Mr Richard Montague for providing us the very valuable and historical images from the 1897 Border Commision.

The 1901 map is published in Åke Gustafsson's book "Riksgränshistoria och gränsöversyner", ISBN 91588-6013-4 (1995).

Photo links

Rolf Palmberg's European Tripoints (2004): http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/BordersFNS.htm

Boundarypointpoint: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boundarypointpoint/message/1056

Point of the tripoint from above: http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/3825035.jpg

Borderbase: http://www.nicolette.dk/borderbase/tripoint.php?c1=49&c2=107&c3=133&orientation=

Sweden - Norway - Finland on one photo: http://home1.swipnet.se/%7Ew-69731/troms/3riks/

Skibotn skole: http://www.skibotn.gs.tr.no/skibotn/treriks.shtml

Video link

Two Norwegians jog around the tripoint: http://youtu.be/6qM6ZZNhaYc?t=4m30s

 

This page was last time updated on 18.06.12