The bridge across the Muonio River from Karesuando leads to Karesuvanto, the Finnish village that is in many ways the other half of the same community. The Meänkieli-speaking population on both sides of this border shares the same culture, the same history, and the same Laestadian religious heritage — the national border is a relatively modern imposition on a people whose identity predates it.
Crossing takes a few minutes on foot. Karesuvanto has a slightly different character — Finnish architecture, a Finnish café or two, signage in Finnish and Northern Sami. The experience of standing with one foot in each country at this remote edge of the EU feels pleasingly arbitrary. The two towns hold joint events and consider themselves functionally one community.