FINNISH LAPPLAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R004400760011-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2004
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: March 15, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

.,LASSWFICPAT10N
Approved FERAEeii~AL r G - t -
9 F AT FO T' CD NO.
COUNTRY Finland
SUBJECT Fincash Lappland
25X1
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO.
THIS DOC011IIHT COt1TAH13lt;FORUATlOH AFFBCTINOTHN IIATIORALD2FINSR
07 THS OIIITED !RATE'S $I .IIt1 TIID DEA11SH0 OF TIM ?SPIQUA5 ACT 30
U. a. C.. 31 AHD 3?, AS A1 41-W11171). ITS T2ANSI1ISSt031 OR Trig REVELATION
OF ITS C011TEHT3 to AM FrIAt1E3 TO AIa UNAUTHORIZED PEFSOt1 IS P1t0?
AIIDIYFD CY LAW. GEPWDts r318H OP TlttS POEM ID PROIIIHITKO.
25X1
25X1
25X1
DATE DISTR. L"' M1.T 50
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS.
CL45TED BELOW
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1~ Pop alation~pi.'ia ration and :ousinG,,
a, Ptecon atruotion of viil.a[;es and buildinzio in Finnish Lappland began as
soon as the tzar ended and has proceeded so rapidly that Lappland has
now reached t ho housing; lovel. of the other Finnish pr evinces o 11otablo
prof ress has also boon vado in cloarinC, arablo land., In addition to
restoration of ware-damaCed buiidinzs, an oxtonsive pro-ram of nou
construction is under ii-ray, All buildin ,s are of pormanont cornstruc-
tion and modern desiG,n. As an incantivo to quick rebuildinG, the
i,innich Government Granted full compensation for buildimrs destroyed
or da . Ged durinG the rrar, subsidized no'A7 construction and laand-
cloarinG, and placed buildinC naterial3, blueprints and o.rport con.
eultm-Its at the disposal of the population.
bo The former resident's of Calla end iiuolajtavi have all moved -crithiri the
new Finnish border, l.Tost of ti-tor have o tabiishcd homes dust inside
the border, although soma have settled alone the road toward iomi j~?rv7.
and others on the lotaar hi, mray from Cavul oski to Poll>osennienie 111o
buildinGs aro spaced close toCothor, particularly in the productive
river valley south of Pelhosonniomi. In the north, the Finnish rosi-
dents of Potsamo and the Pus ,icon CLolty Lapps have also ma-Ted within
the now -Finnish border a The Pot came Finns have sottlad at Inar3, and
on the Tana !'liver. The Ckolto Lapps are nevi encamped north of Inao.ri
2 U l a; ;;lation -1 o3itical -y zpat?~~ios,
The percentage of Cmmunistc in T,appland is sliGiatly hijior than the port-
,.
ccv ':aGo in i inland as a t yzalo;, Political of:_iliation of lei cdaa; izar.~bory
frcu the iar'ovinco of Lappland is:
.t rarian Party eeacasee...?oe
Coalition Party ova..pat. eeeaJ
social Domocraatic Fnrt e e , a t .l
Deraocrat:i_c Urn i. on I" .. l)L) ....: 2
25X1
CLASSIFICATION
_STAT_
_E. ;^aytf sa ges
DISTRiBUTcON
~
_
_ (
ARMY ~- Asa wi .~
a ... ~."~P 41
NaAppoved For Release 2004/07/08: CIA-RDP82 JES
 4400760011-5
25X1
,osts are i.uch sou :.it after because pay and housing are good and the
activity of each officer is noro of loss indopondont, I.loralo and
discipline are good, and scorn to be unaffected by the monotony of
guard duty, The source remarks that the individual, independent nature
~. f the guard assiDaments, carried out in solitude, seems peculiarly
suited to the Finnish temperament,
The Finnish military authorities in Lappland have announced that all road-
building of any kind till be reported in Ro?vraniomi, peh,'o~pen Sanonat and
other local nowspapersg This step was tarn >za a means of quoin ing rumors
that roads, airfields and/or fortifications were to be built at Soviet re-
quo sto
6o Fortifications,,
In 1940-194-1, forti2ications more built at I. rlcf j rvi, Juotsi jdrvi and
Savukooki for the Fiarema Brigade, thich was responsible for the entire
Soviot frontier of Finnish Lappland. (T"he main forces of the urigade
25X1 were sta%-.'Rued uoar fiG.r'*, ;; ~;,?rl ,) Those fortificat; ons are still usable,
and still equipped with tank '1-raps and barbed-wire barriers, The I.IdrI -
25X1 =drew, fortifications are mostly of concrete construction,
25X1 there are rumors along the Swedish border ?of new r or -a ice ions,
u Inc nsuch construction has boon observed? the
rumors have arisen because of the building which has beer, wader 'iaay for the
25X1 past two years on the oastorn bank of Tonne Ever. This included barracks
for three border'-guard companies, built about 7 kilometers south. of
Ylitornio in 1948 and put into use early in 1949,
7,, Finnish La land as a IlilitarV Factor,
a, The only ai:?'fields in use in Fixmish Lappland are those at Komi and
Rovaniomi ? the Rovanioini field is to be en-
25X1
l.argod, and that the solid ground here will make possible the addition
of runways for heavy planes, This could be done at Eemi and Ivalo as.
25X1 well. The pebble surface of the vaatershod in this part of Finland
make possible the construction of good air-
.:lo s within a relatively short times. I?or-Wa.or n Finland offers possib-'
25X1 ilities for airfield construction that are not equalled in northern
Ilortiaay (mountain terrain), northern Soviet Karelia (numerous bogs and
25X1 lakes) or northern Swodonr Finnish exports con-
firm his opinion that modern mecaanica equ? pa-aunt plus natural conditions
would make it possible to conpleto a considerable air-'base area is
Finland ~rithin one month
b, Ileither roads nor terrain would present great difficulty if the Soviets
should decide upon a sudden invasion of Finland by way of Savukoski-
%'~drled jdrvi, Keni jarvi or Ivalo. C ' anize l opposition to an invasion in
this area would probably be on too small a scale to stop a strong
:.i nvading force, and the Soviet authorities are believed to Imow enough
of the local torraia, to enable Soviet forcer, to operate between the
roads, The Finnish military authorities are said to be fully aware that
the wastes of north Finland present e:collent conditions for effective
partisan warfare, in contrast to the loss favorable conditions in
southern Finland,
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R004400760011-5