GEOGRAPHY

An online campaign has been launched in Norway to give Halti, a mountain peak, to neighboring Finland. Halti would be a birthday present to mark the centenary of Finland’s independence in 2017. (BBC)

Use our resources to find Halti and redraw the border between Norway and Finland—or anywhere else you want.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, including today’s 1-Page Map.

Discussion Ideas

• An online campaign has been launched in Norway to give a mountain peak to neighboring Finland as a present to mark its 100th year of independence in 2017. From what nation did Finland declare independence in 1917?
  • Russia! Prior to 1917, the region was the Grand Duchy of Finland, part of the greater Russian Empire. Finland’s independence was bloodless and without drama: The Finnish parliament declared independence on December 6, 1917, and Russia recognized Finland as an independent nation by the end of the month. (Russia had other things on its mind in 1917.)

 

• How would Norway “give” Finland a mountain?
  • A conspiracy of cartographers! Part of Halti is already in Finland, so cartographers would need to redraw the border by about 20 meters (66 feet). The change would barely be noticeable on a map. (Here’s how Nat Geo maps it—right on the border.)
    • The idea may have originated with a now-retired employee of the Norwegian Mapping Authority. According to the BBC, “while surveying the area from a plane in 1972 he ‘was taken aback by why on Earth [the Finns] had not received this peak.’”

 

• Measure a 20-meter (66-foot) radius, about the area of land the Norwegian campaign wants to cede to Finland. Would you be willing to change your classroom map, school map, or map of your home to “give” a neighbor that much space? Would it depend on the neighbor? (Finland and Norway are very strong allies!)

 

• Would you give away any piece of United States geography?
  • Mannahatta Island? (to the Lenape?)
  • the Kingdom of Hawaii? (to Hawaiians?)
  • Alaska? (to Russia? to Alaskans?)
  • the Rio Grande? (to Mexico?)
  • the U.S. Virgin Islands? (to Denmark?)

 

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

BBC: Norway: Campaign to give mountain peak to Finland

Nat Geo: Finland 1-Page Map

Nat Geo: Where is Halti? 1-Page Map

Nat Geo: Reindeer Migration Routes map

Norwegian Mapping Authority: Free Geospatial Data Sets!