In 2017 Finland will celebrate 100 years of independence - itsenäisyys. Finland's Independence Day, Itsenäisyyspäivä, is 6th December. Like other Finnish schools, the Finnish School in Manchester will be joining in, and we have a number of ideas and projects being conjured up. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more news :)
So, what do you think of this as a birthday present? The picture, right, is grabbed from Google Maps. Doesn't seem like much to get excited about, does it? It shows a small part of the border between Norway and Finland; there is a proposal in Norway to move it a few metres further north and therefore gift Finland a fraction of a square kilometre of barren mountainside. Which is a rather downbeat way of putting it. However, on that border is Finland's highest point, at 1,324m above sea level, and a while ago, an imaginative Norwegian surveyor realised that a minor border adjustment would put the peak of Halditsohkka inside Finland. You can read more here in the Guardian. Neat, don't you think, and rather wonderful? Much better to have an actual mountain peak as your highest point! It's not certain that this will happen, Norway has some constitutional issues to overcome, but the will seems to be there, and a couple of days ago the Norwegian PM announced that he was 'looking into it'. Go Norway!
So, what do you think of this as a birthday present? The picture, right, is grabbed from Google Maps. Doesn't seem like much to get excited about, does it? It shows a small part of the border between Norway and Finland; there is a proposal in Norway to move it a few metres further north and therefore gift Finland a fraction of a square kilometre of barren mountainside. Which is a rather downbeat way of putting it. However, on that border is Finland's highest point, at 1,324m above sea level, and a while ago, an imaginative Norwegian surveyor realised that a minor border adjustment would put the peak of Halditsohkka inside Finland. You can read more here in the Guardian. Neat, don't you think, and rather wonderful? Much better to have an actual mountain peak as your highest point! It's not certain that this will happen, Norway has some constitutional issues to overcome, but the will seems to be there, and a couple of days ago the Norwegian PM announced that he was 'looking into it'. Go Norway!