6,8 million people crossed Finnish-Russian border
A record high number of 6,8 million people crossed the Finnish-Russian border in 2010. Also the countries’ northernmost checkpoints experienced an all-time-high of travelers.
6,8 million people is 15 percent higher than in 2009, Finnish broadcaster YLE reports. The checkpoint which saw the highest number of border crossings was the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka with a total of 2,7 million.
The number of cross-border travelers has increased strongly over the last years. And the trend is likely to continue in 2011. On Monday 3 January, a total of 47,000 people crossed the border between the countries, which is a new record in one day, YLE writes.
Also the northernmost border crossings between the two countries experienced major growth in 2010. As reported by BarentsObserver, the Salla border crossing between the Lapland province and Murmansk Oblast handled more than 100,000 travelers, which is far more than in the previous year. Finland is the country which issues most Schengen visas to Russians. In 2010, the number of visas issued exceeded one million.
Read more: Look to Finland
Finland and Russia share a more than 1300 km long border with a total of eight permanent border crossing points for regular travelers.
