Paanajärvi-Oulanka valley – a pathway across the northern taiga

This article is an introduction to the Fennia volume dedicated to scientific, physical and biogeographical studies concerning two adjoining National Parks on both sides of the Fenno-Russian border: Oulanka and Paanajärvi. The articles in the volume are meant to afford a background to the importance of the Paanajärvi – Oulanka region as an immigration route for biota across the vast barrens of the northern taiga. A short vocabulary of some important Finnish geographical terms is presented