Salpa Line

Salpa Line
Salpa Line
Eastern Finland
Type	Defensive line
Site information
Controlled by	Finland
Site history
Built	1940–44
In use	1941–44
Materials	Concrete, steel, natural features
Battles/wars	Continuation War
Garrison information
Garrison	Reserve

The Salpa Line (Finnish: Salpalinja, literally Latch line; Swedish: Salpalinjen), or its official name, Suomen Salpa (Finland's Latch), is a bunker line on the eastern border of Finland. It was built in 1940–1941 during the Interim Peace between the Winter War and the Continuation War and further in 1944 to defend Finland against a possible Soviet invasion.

The line is 1,200 kilometres long, stretching from the Gulf of Finland to Petsamo (now Pechenga, Russia). It never saw military action because the Soviet offensive in 1944 was stopped at the VKT-line on the Karelian Isthmus. The fortifications of the Salpa Line were significantly more complete and stronger than those of the Mannerheim Line.^[1]

^ Reino Arimo, Suomen linnoittamisen historia 1918—1944 (The History of Finnish Fortification 1918—1944), Otava, 1981, ISBN 951-1-06263-8^{[page needed]}

[Arimo-1] Reino Arimo, Suomen linnoittamisen historia 1918—1944 (The History of Finnish Fortification 1918—1944), Otava, 1981, ISBN 951-1-06263-8^{[page needed]}

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