Inari (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈinɑri]; Inari Sami: Aanaar; Skolt Sami: Aanar; Northern Sami: Anár [ˈanaːr]; Norwegian and Swedish: Enare) is Finland's largest municipality by area (but one of the most sparsely populated), with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are tourism, service industry and cold climate testing. With the Siida museum in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture, widely known as the "capital of Sámi culture".[6][7]
Inari
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Municipality | |
Inarin kunta (Finnish) Aanaar kieldâ (Inari Sami) Aanar kåʹdd (Skolt Sami) Anára gielda (Northern Sami) Enare kommun (Swedish) | |
![]() The snowy main road 4 (E75) in the Inari village | |
![]() Coat of arms | |
![]() Location of Inari in Finland | |
Coordinates: 68°54′18″N 027°01′49″E | |
Country | ![]() |
Region | Lapland |
Sub-region | Northern Lapland |
Charter | 1876 |
Seat | Ivalo |
Government | |
• Municipal manager | Toni K. Laine |
Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 17,333.65 km2 (6,692.56 sq mi) |
• Land | 15,052.36 km2 (5,811.75 sq mi) |
• Water | 2,281.41 km2 (880.86 sq mi) |
• Rank | Largest in Finland |
Population (2021-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 7,008 |
• Rank | 135th largest in Finland |
• Density | 0.47/km2 (1.2/sq mi) |
Population by native language | |
• Finnish | 92.7% (official) |
• Swedish | 0.2% |
• Sami | 5.9% |
• Others | 1.1% |
Population by age | |
• 0 to 14 | 12.1% |
• 15 to 64 | 61% |
• 65 or older | 26.9% |
Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
Municipal tax rate[5] | 19% |
Website | www.inari.fi |
The airport in Ivalo and the country's key north-south European Route E75 (Finland's National Road 4) bring summer and winter vacationers seeking resorts with access to a well-preserved, uncrowded natural environment.
The municipality was established in 1876. It was claimed from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime during the Nazi occupation of Norway.[8]
Inari is the largest municipality by area in Finland. Located in Lapland, it covers an area of 17,333.65 square kilometres (6,692.56 sq mi),[1] of which 2,281.41 km2 (880.86 sq mi) is water. With an area of 1,043 km2 (403 sq mi), Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland, 40 km2 (15 sq mi) smaller than the country's second largest Lake Päijänne.
Finland's largest National Park Lemmenjoki is partly located in Inari, as is the Urho Kekkonen National Park. Vast parts of the municipality are designated wilderness areas: Hammastunturi, Muotkatunturi, Paistunturi, Kaldoaivi, Vätsäri, and Tsarmitunturi.
The village of Inari is Finland's northernmost holiday resort. The airport is located in the nearby village of Ivalo.
Inari has a chilly and humid climate with fairly cold winters and cool summers (Köppen Dfc). Due to the polar night, winter time temperatures are often severely cold. However, the midnight sun contributes to surprisingly high summertime temperatures. The warmest temperature ever recorded at Ivalo Airport was 31.8 °C (89.2 °F) in July 1925, while the coldest temperature on record was −48.9 °C (−56.0 °F) in January 1999. However, in July 1914 Thule weather station in western Inari recorded an unofficial record high temperature of 34.7 °C (94.5 °F), which is the highest temperature ever recorded in Lapland.[9] Inari is also among the driest locations in Finland, especially in the winter when the average precipitation total is less than half of the amount that Southern Finland receives. The driest year on record was 1941 when only 120,1 mm (4,7 inches) fell.[10]
Climate data for Inari Nellim, 1991-2020 normals, extremes 1925- present | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 6.3 (43.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
11.0 (51.8) |
16.4 (61.5) |
28.2 (82.8) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.4 (88.5) |
24.4 (75.9) |
12.8 (55.0) |
8.6 (47.5) |
7.4 (45.3) |
31.8 (89.2) |
Average high °C (°F) | −7.6 (18.3) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
2.9 (37.2) |
8.8 (47.8) |
15 (59) |
18.7 (65.7) |
15.9 (60.6) |
10.5 (50.9) |
3 (37) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
4.2 (39.6) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −12.1 (10.2) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
4.5 (40.1) |
10.4 (50.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
11.9 (53.4) |
7.2 (45.0) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−9.2 (15.4) |
0.2 (32.4) |
Average low °C (°F) | −17.4 (0.7) |
−16.8 (1.8) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
0.4 (32.7) |
6.3 (43.3) |
10 (50) |
8 (46) |
3.8 (38.8) |
−2 (28) |
−9.3 (15.3) |
−13.8 (7.2) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −48.9 (−56.0) |
−48.6 (−55.5) |
−39.9 (−39.8) |
−29.8 (−21.6) |
−15.8 (3.6) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
−27.6 (−17.7) |
−34.3 (−29.7) |
−42.0 (−43.6) |
−48.9 (−56.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 25 (1.0) |
21 (0.8) |
22 (0.9) |
26 (1.0) |
37 (1.5) |
61 (2.4) |
73 (2.9) |
69 (2.7) |
45 (1.8) |
43 (1.7) |
28 (1.1) |
26 (1.0) |
476 (18.8) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 16 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 186 |
Source 1: FMI climatological normals for Finland 1991-2020[11] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: record highs and lows 1961- present[12]
FMI(record highs and lows 1925-1961)[10] |
The municipality of Inari has a population of 7,008 (31 December 2021).[2] The population density is 0.47 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.2/sq mi).
Its two largest villages are Ivalo and Inari. Other villages are Törmänen, Keväjärvi, Koppelo, Sevettijärvi–Näätämö, Saariselkä, Nellim, Angeli, Kaamanen, Kuttura, Lisma, Partakko, and Riutula.
The municipality has four official languages: Finnish, Inari Sami (ca. 400 estimated speakers), Skolt Sami (ca. 400 speakers), and Northern Sami (ca. 700 speakers). The estimates of how many people have some command of each of the Sami languages differ from the number of people who list them as their mother tongues. Of the total population of 6,863 in 2010, 6,366 people registered Finnish and 400 people registered one of the Sami languages as their mother tongue. Ninety-seven inhabitants were native speakers of other languages.
Only about 1%, 78 persons, were citizens of countries other than Finland in 2010.
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Inari:
Places adjacent to Inari, Finland | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities of Lapland | ||
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