Welcome to Haparanda 12 October 2012Sweden On November 14-15 the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council will gather in Haparanda, Sweden, for this year’s last meeting. Haparanda is located just on the border to Finland, and is the twin town of the Finnish city Tornio where one of the hotels used for the meeting is located. Futhermore, Haparanda is home to a Sauna museum and the world’s northernmost IKEA store. A bus tour of the city for the meeting participants is planned in the afternoon of November 13. This will surely be both an exciting and beautiful ride. The SAO meeting will be held at “Folkets Hus”, in the city centre of Haparanda. Participants include representatives from the Arctic Council member states, indigenous peoples’ organizations, working groups and observers. If you are going to Haparanda and want to find out more about the city and its surroundings, you can visit the Haparanda tourist office website. In order to register for the meeting and book your hotel rooms, please visit the meeting website. Note that some of the block bookings will expire on October 14 and 15.