Norway's Weird Gift Idea Involves Shifting Its Border

Norwegians want to give their flat neighbors a mountain
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 18, 2015 3:59 AM CST
Norwegians Want to Give Finland a Mountain
This border marker on the side of Halti is currently Finland's highest spot.   (Wikipedia/Ppntori)

Finland celebrates the 100th anniversary of its independence from Russia in 2017, and people in Norway think they've found the perfect present for their much flatter neighbor. A campaign to shift the border a few hundred feet to give Finland a mountain peak is gathering steam and has won the support of the chief of the Norwegian Mapping Authority, the Telegraph reports. Finland's current highest spot is a spur on the side of the Halti mountain, and the proposed change would put the mountain's 4,479-foot peak in Finnish territory. (The campaign's Facebook page translates to "Halti as an anniversary gift.")

The change would make almost no difference to the size of either country, and the Telegraph notes that Halti doesn't rank among Norway's 200 highest peaks. "We would not have to give away any part of Norway. It would barely be noticeable," the retired Mapping Authority employee who came up with the idea told reporters this week, per the Local. "And I'm sure the Finns would greatly appreciate it." He says he first thought of giving Finland the peak when he was working in the remote border region in 1972, and he decided to publicize it this year when he realized that the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence was approaching. (Norwegians aren't just great gift-givers, they're role models for us all in winter.)

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