 After the war many of the Swedes started to develop the small village Haaparanta across the border instead (Haparanda and Tornio are within walking distance), eventually leaving Tornio unilingually Finnish.Haparanda was made a market town ("köping") in 1821 and received its city charter in 1842.Into the early twentieth century Haparanda enjoyed commercial and political significance out of proportion to its size because of its position at the mouth of the Torne river at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia.