Norwegians launch campaign to give Finland a mountain
The proposal is intended as a gift for Finland's 100-year anniversary of independence in 2017.
Bjorn Geirr Harsson, a retired employee of the Norwegian Mapping Authority, has proposed that Norway shift its border 20 metres so that the Halti mountain becomes part of Finland. The proposal came as a gift for the 100th anniversary of Finland's independence, The Independent reported.
Harsson said that no part of Norway would be given up and that the shift would be "barely noticeable". Finland has no mountain peaks of its own, while the Halti is not in Norway's list of top 200 peaks. Harsson's Facebook campaign adds that not many countries can boast giving a mountain as a present.
The proposal has already won the support of Anne Cathrine Frostrup, head of the Norwegian Mapping Authority. "It is a very good idea," she told Norway’s state broadcaster NRK. "It is a nice gift to give to a country that lacks a high mountain, where the highest point isn’t even a peak." However, there has been no commitment so far from the agency.