The border that split the Sámi homeland is closing again, 200 years on
Two hundred years after Norway and Russia drew a line through the Sámi homeland, that border is hardening again. A new report from Finnmark, in Norway’s far north, describes how Russia’s war in Ukraine has turned a once-porous frontier into a wall of fences and fines.
The border was fixed by a convention in 1826, cutting through Sápmi, the Sámi homeland that spans Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Most Sámi live in Norway; only about 2 percent live in Russia. People living within 30 kilometres of the border can even travel visa-free. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, those crossings have largely stopped.
Reindeer herding, language revival and hunting are increasingly managed through permits and rules. In 2023, 42 Norwegian reindeer crossed into Russia; Moscow demanded compensation, and Norway rebuilt seven kilometres of the 150-kilometre border fence. In July, up to 30 more reindeer were trapped on the Russian side, and their owners could not cross to fetch them. Kirkenes has also been caught in a spy war, with Russian operatives reportedly posing as tourists and fishermen.
The local economy has suffered too. Al Jazeera reports that Russian visitors to Norway fell from 250,000 in 2019 to 52,000 last year, and several Kirkenes shops have closed. One family tourism business now gets 80 percent of its customers from Asia and Finland. A Kirkenes businessman was reportedly arrested in Russia in June and held for two months, leaving locals afraid to cross at all.
Why it matters
This is not just a border story. It is about an Indigenous people whose homeland was divided 200 years ago, now being squeezed again by a war they did not start. Norway is also building up its military in Finnmark, with a new brigade due to reach about 4,000 troops by 2033.
What happens next
The border is unlikely to soften while the war in Ukraine continues. Norway’s Border Commissariat must still decide what happens to the reindeer stuck on the Russian side, with the Pasvik River freeze approaching. For the Sámi, the question is whether they will be treated as partners in security planning — or simply planned around.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://www.europesays.com/russia/82959/ (Al Jazeera, 31 October 2026)
- https://magnabureau.space/article-norway-russia-border-sami-people-face (Magna Bureau, 31 October 2026)
- https://www.pasvikelva.no/en (The Pasvik River project, border history)
