 The events in Mikael Niemi's book ""Populärmusik från Vittula"" ("Popular Music from Vittula") occur mainly in Pajala.Vittula, or more properly "Vittulajänkkä", is a colloquial name (vulgar in its Finnish-Sami etymology, at least) for a certain garden suburb in Pajala.In another portrait of Pajala by Niemi, the crime novel ""Mannen som dog som en lax"" (""The Man who Died like a Salmon""), the author discusses the state of the minority language Meänkieli in Pajala today.