Norway mulls giving mountain part to neighbor Finland as gift

While other countries are suffering from mangled relationships with their neighbors over overlapping boundaries and territorial disputes, one European country is giving a slice of its territory as a gift to its neighbor, which will mark its centenary as an independent country next year.

The Norwegian government is considering a suggestion to bestow its Halti peak as a gift to Finland as the Finnish citizens celebrate its 100th independence anniversary in December 2017, Independent and The Telegraph reported.

By moving the peak, the border between Norway and Finland will be 490 feet (150 meters) to the north and 650 ft (200 m) to the east. Finland will then have its highest mountain while Norway will shed off a minuscule 0.015 square kilometer.

The hefty move began with a simple Facebook campaign called “Halti as an anniversary gift” spurred by a retired geodesist, 76-year-old Bjørn Geirr Harsson. He formulated the idea while he was surveying the mountain decades ago. The page has garnered 14,800 likes as of Friday.

“My idea is that this should be a gift from the Norwegian people and I feel sure that the Finnish people would appreciate it,” Harsson told The Telegraph.

The current highest summit in Finland is Halditsohkka, which is situated in the same mountain range as Halti.  Halditsohkka is 40 meters shorter than Halti.