It is located at the shore of the Torne River, opposite to their Finnish twin town Ylitornio. Övertorneå means "Upper Torneå", based on a division of the Torneå parish in two parts in the 16th century. Until the border between Sweden and Finland was drawn at the Torne River in 1809, the two villages on both sides of the river were one. From 1809 till 1917, this represented the Swedish border to Russia.