Pajala | |
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Pajala Church, July 2004 | |
Coordinates: 67°11′N 23°22′E / 67.183°N 23.367°E | |
Province | Norrbotten |
County | Norrbotten County |
Municipality | Pajala Municipality |
Area | |
• Total | 3.78 km2 (1.46 sq mi) |
Population (31 December 2010)[1] | |
• Total | 1,958 |
• Density | 518/km2 (1,340/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Pajala (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈpɑjɑlɑ]) is a locality and the seat of Pajala Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 1,958 inhabitants in 2010.[1] It is located in Swedish Lapland.
Pajala is in the Torne Valley and was dominated by people speaking a Finnish dialect until Eastern Sweden (Finland) got annexed by Russia in the 1800s and Pajala ended on the Swedish side of the river that marked the border. Today the town is nearly unilingually Swedish although the Meänkieli name for the locality remains in use and is a minority language. Even so, Pajala has belonged to Sweden since the country's inception as a political unit.