Enontekiö (; sme, Eanodat ; sv, Enontekis; smn, Iänudâh; sms, Jeänõk) is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
part of
Lapland
Lapland may refer to:
Places
*Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia)
**Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region
*** Lapland (former pr ...
with approx. inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
border. Finland's highest point, the
Halti
Halti ( fi, Halti, rarely Haltiatunturi, sme, Háldičohkka, sv, Haldefjäll) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduattarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border between the munici ...
fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...
with a height of above the
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
, lies in the north of Enontekiö, where the municipality occupies a part of the
Scandinavian Mountains
The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to the ...
. The administrative centre of Enontekiö is the village of
Hetta
Hetta (; se, Heahttá ) is the main village in the municipality of Enontekiö in the north-west part of Finnish Lapland. It is also the municipality's administrative centre and the start or end point of the standard trekking / skiing route ac ...
. About one fifth of the community's population are
Sami people
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...
. Enontekiö's main industries are tourism and
reindeer husbandry
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
.
Geography
Location and dimensions
Enontekiö is located in the region of Lapland in the outermost northwest tip of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. The salient between the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
borders, which is occupied by the municipality of Enontekiö, is called ''Käsivarsi'' (Finnish for "arm"), because before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Finland's borders had the shape of a woman's figure ('' Suomi-neito'') and the area looked like her raised right arm. The municipality occupies a large and sparsely populated area of (more than three times the area of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
). Thus Enontekiö is Finland's third-largest municipality in size, after
Inari
Inari may refer to:
Shinto
* Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit
** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari
** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari
* Inari-zushi, a type of sushi
Places
* Inari, ...
and
Sodankylä
Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows ne ...
, and with a population density of only , it is the second-most sparsely populated municipality, after
Savukoski
Savukoski ( sme, Suovvaguoika, smn, Suovâkuoškâ, sms, Suõvvkuõškk) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...
.
Enontekiö's neighbouring municipalities are Inari in the east,
Kittilä
Kittilä ( se, Gihttel, smn, Kittâl, sms, Kihttel) is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.
It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland region. The municipality has a population of () and ...
in the southeast, and
Muonio
Muonio (previously called ''Muonionniska'', se, Muoná) is a municipality of Finland. The town is located in far northern Finland above the Arctic Circle on the country's western border, within the area of the former Lappi (Lapland) province. T ...
in the south; on the Swedish side in the west, there is the municipality of
Kiruna
(; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norr ...
and on the Norwegian side in the north, there are
Storfjord
Storfjord ( se, Omasvuotna ; fkv, Omasvuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hatteng. Other villages in Storfjord include Elvevoll, Oteren, and Skibotn.
T ...
Nordreisa
Nordreisa ( se, Ráisa ; fkv, Raisi) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storslett. Other villages include O ...
, and
Kautokeino
Kautokeino ( no, Kautokeino; se, Guovdageaidnu ; fkv, Koutokeino; fi, Koutokeino) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villages ...
. Enontekiö shares a border of more than with the two adjacent states. The border to Sweden is formed by the river Muonionjoki and its tributary,
Könkämäeno
Könkämäeno ( sv, Könkämäälven; se, Geaggáneatnu) is a river in Finland and Sweden in Finnish and Swedish Lapland. It forms the upper course of the Muonionjoki river, which begins where the Könkämäeno river meets the Lätäseno river. ...
.
Villages
The main village of Enontekiö is the settlement of
Hetta
Hetta (; se, Heahttá ) is the main village in the municipality of Enontekiö in the north-west part of Finnish Lapland. It is also the municipality's administrative centre and the start or end point of the standard trekking / skiing route ac ...
in the south, with approx. 530 inhabitants. There is no village with the name of Enontekiö, but Hetta is often called the municipality's name. Other important places are the village of
Kilpisjärvi
Kilpisjärvi (; se, Gilbbesjávri ) is a village in the municipality of Enontekiö, Lapland, Finland. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland.
Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages ...
, which is located near the border triangle of Finland-Sweden-Norway, as well as
Karesuvanto
Karesuvanto or Kaaresuvanto ( se, Gárasavvon, sv, Karesuando) is a village in Enontekiö municipality, located in Finnish Lapland, the largest and northernmost region in Finland. It is located on the Muonio River, which follows Finland's weste ...
, both of which are located at the Muonionjoki at the Swedish border. Enontekiö's villages are concentrated in the southern area and along the banks of the rivers Könkämäeno and Muonionjoki in the west of the municipality. Often, there is a corresponding village on the Swedish side of the river, bearing the same name (or the Swedish form of the name), e.g. Karesuvanto/Karesuando. In contrast, the part of the Käsivarsi Mountains away from the rivers is almost completely uninhabited.
The following villages belong to Enontekiö (Sami name, if available, in parentheses):
*
Hetta
Hetta (; se, Heahttá ) is the main village in the municipality of Enontekiö in the north-west part of Finnish Lapland. It is also the municipality's administrative centre and the start or end point of the standard trekking / skiing route ac ...
Karesuvanto
Karesuvanto or Kaaresuvanto ( se, Gárasavvon, sv, Karesuando) is a village in Enontekiö municipality, located in Finnish Lapland, the largest and northernmost region in Finland. It is located on the Muonio River, which follows Finland's weste ...
(''Gárasavvon'')
*
Kelottijärvi
Kelottijärvi is a village and lake in the municipality of Enontekiö in Lapland in north-western Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shar ...
Kilpisjärvi
Kilpisjärvi (; se, Gilbbesjávri ) is a village in the municipality of Enontekiö, Lapland, Finland. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland.
Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages ...
In its northern tip, Enontekiö is the only Finnish municipality that includes part of the Scandinavian Mountains. Through that and through its location in the far north of Finland, it is geologically and scenically very different from the rest of the country.
Halti
Halti ( fi, Halti, rarely Haltiatunturi, sme, Háldičohkka, sv, Haldefjäll) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduattarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border between the munici ...
, the highest mountain of Finland with a height of 1,324 m, is located in Enontekiö, together with all 21 other mountains higher than in the country. Besides Haltitunturi, probably the best known and scenically most distinctive mountain is the
Saana
: ''For the Yemeni city, see Sana'a''
Saana ( se, Sána) is a fell in Enontekiö, Finland. Saana's summit lies above sea level and above the adjacent Kilpisjärvi lake. Geologically it is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, and is made of the s ...
with a height of , which rises above the village of Kilpisjärvi. The southern part of the municipality is less mountainous, but some single
fjell
Fjell is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Midhordland. The municipality consisted of several islands west of the city of Bergen, the major ones being Litlesotra, the northern p ...
s (''tunturi'', which means hills towering above the timber line) rise above the otherwise rather flat surrounding area. Below, a part of the
Pallastunturi
Pallastunturi is a group of seven fells in the municipalities of Muonio and Enontekiö in Lapland, Finland. The highest peak is Taivaskero, which is also highest peak of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and whole Lapland excluding Käsivarsi ar ...
– Ounastunturi-massif extends into Enontekiö's territory.
A little more than 5% of the municipality's area consists of water. Several large rivers originate in Enontekiö: The Muonionjoki,
Ounasjoki
The Ounasjoki ( se, Ovnnesjohka) is the Kemijoki's largest tributary and is Finland's longest single river tributary. It is also the largest river entirely within its borders. Ounasjoki is approximately in length, and the catchment area is , 27% ...
, Ivalojoki, and one of the headstreams of the Tenojoki have their sources in the municipality. Enontekiö owes its name to them: ''Eno'' is an old Finnish word for "major river" and ''tekiö'' is derived from the verb ''tehdä'' ("to make"). All of the 825 lakes in the area are rather small. The largest lakes are the
Pöyrisjärvi
Pöyrisjärvi a medium-sized lake in the Kemijoki main catchment area in the Enontekiö municipality of Finland, close to the border with Norway.Kilpisjärvi
Kilpisjärvi (; se, Gilbbesjávri ) is a village in the municipality of Enontekiö, Lapland, Finland. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland.
Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages ...
near the village with the same name, and the Ounasjärvi near
Hetta
Hetta (; se, Heahttá ) is the main village in the municipality of Enontekiö in the north-west part of Finnish Lapland. It is also the municipality's administrative centre and the start or end point of the standard trekking / skiing route ac ...
.
Flora and fauna
The vegetation of Enontekiö is very meagre, due to the extreme northern latitude. The northern border of the natural geographic range of the
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
approx. matches the southern border of the municipality; the range of the
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
ends only north of Hetta, too. North of that, only
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
es grow. The timber line is approximately ; above that, a
tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...
-like vegetation predominates. Heaths extends above timber line.
The lower heathlands are dominated by shrubs such as
Betula nana
''Betula nana'', the dwarf birch, is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, found mainly in the tundra of the Arctic region.
Description
It is a monoecious, deciduous shrub growing up to high. The bark is non-peeling and shiny red-copper ...
,
Vaccinium myrtillus
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...
and
Empetrum hermaphroditum
''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but th ...
, whereas in the fjell heaths at higher elevations
Salix herbacea
''Salix herbacea'', the dwarf willow, least willow or snowbed willow, is a species of tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae) adapted to survive in harsh arctic and subarctic environments. Distributed widely in alpine and arctic environments ar ...
, Empetrum and alpine grasses with lichens and mosses occur. In the mountains of the north-west
Cassiope tetragona
''Cassiope tetragona'' (common names include Arctic bell-heather, white Arctic mountain heather and Arctic white heather) is a plant native to the high Arctic and northern Norway, where it is found widely.
Growing to 10–20 cm in height ...
is abundant. The largest part of the municipal area consists of these plateaus or
bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s, which mainly predominate at the rivers. Only 19% of Enontekiö's area is afforested. About 70% of the total area is conservation area of various grades. Enontekiö contains parts of the
Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park
Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is Finland's third largest national park and it covers an area of 1,020 square kilometres. The national park is located in Western Lapland in the municipalities of Enontekiö, Kittilä, Kolari and Muonio. The l ...
Pöyrisjärvi
Pöyrisjärvi a medium-sized lake in the Kemijoki main catchment area in the Enontekiö municipality of Finland, close to the border with Norway.Tarvantovaara.
Due to the harsh climatic conditions, there are not especially many species among Enontekiö's fauna; however, there are Arctic species that are unknown to southern Finland, e.g.
Norway lemming
The Norway lemming, also known as the Norwegian lemming (''Lemmus lemmus'') is a common species of lemming found in northern Fennoscandia, where it is the only vertebrate species endemic to the region. The Norway lemming dwells in tundra and fell ...
,
Arctic fox
The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in co ...
,
snowy owl
The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...
,
Eurasian dotterel
The Eurasian dotterel (''Charadrius morinellus''), also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds.
The dotterel is a brown and black streaked bird with a broad white eye-stripe and an orange-red chest ban ...
,
ptarmigan
''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas.
Taxonomy and etymology
The ge ...
, and
ring ouzel
The ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus'') is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, in length and weighing . The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females ...
. Besides the semi-domesticated
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
, there are a lot of small mammals and bird species.
Climate
Enontekiö's climate is characterised by the extreme northern location, the high altitude compared to the rest of Finland and the closeness of the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
. Due to the moderating influence of the
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
, the winters are not quite as harsh as in central Lapland, which is characterised by the
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
, but the summers are shorter and cooler.
The annual average temperatures of Enontekiö are the lowest of Finland. In Kilpisjärvi, in the north of the municipal area, the long-term average is −2.3 °C (compared to
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
: approx. +5 °C;
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
approx. +9 °C). July is the warmest month, with an average temperature of +10.9 °C, the coldest is January with −13.6 °C. Due to these extreme climatic conditions, the growing season only lasts a little over 100 days. Thus, the winter, with its 200 days, is very long. The annual average precipitation is . In the cold season, enormous amounts of snow can fall: The highest snow depth ever recorded in Finland was measured on April 19, 1997, in Kilpisjärvi: . Normally, a permanent snow cover is generally formed in October and does not melt again until the end of May. In sheltered places, snow can remain even longer; thus a ski race is traditionally held for
Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...
's night in Kilpisjärvi.
Enontekiö's municipal area is located between 200 and 300 km north of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
. Accordingly, there are extreme seasonal differences in the length of daylight. In Kilpisjärvi, the
Midnight Sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, t ...
shines between May 22 and July 23. Accordingly,
Polar night
The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnig ...
(''kaamos'') prevails between December 2 and January 11. Enontekiö has the highest rate of occurrence of
Polar lights
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...
in Finland: In the region around Kilpisjärvi, this natural spectacle can be observed on average three out of four nights during the dark season in clear weather.
History
Prehistory and Swedish age
The first human settlement in Enontekiö emerged after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
, when people of the
Komsa culture
The Komsa culture (''Komsakulturen'') was a Mesolithic culture of hunter-gatherers that existed from around 10,000 BC in Northern Norway.
The culture is named after Mount Komsa in the community of Alta, Finnmark, where the remains of the culture ...
migrated from the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The oldest traces of settlement were found at the shores of the Ounasjärvi Lake and are dated to a time 6,000 BC. Later, the
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...
population of Lapland, which predominated for a long time in Enontekiö, developed by the blending of this
stone-age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
ancestral population with speakers of
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
, who immigrated after the 3rd millennium BC. Initially, the inhabitants of Enontekiö made their living from hunting and fishing, and they had only a few reindeer as draught animals.
In early modern times, Enontekiö came under Swedish influence during the course of the
Christianisation
Christianization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise.2C -ize .28-isation.2C -ization.29, or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of ...
of the
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
istic Sami. In the 16th century, Enontekiö's first church was built. It was a small wooden building in the village of Rounala on the right shore (today in Sweden) of the Könkämäeno river. According to tradition, the church was erected by three Sami brothers who had converted to Christianity. It was a central meeting point, where Sami people gathered for religious ceremonies, where merchants travelled to sell their wares, and where Swedish officials held judicial courts at particular times. In 1611, a new church was built in the village of Markkina. After the destruction of this church, another one was erected in the same place in 1661.
Since the end of the 17th century, the reindeer-Sami culture, which was based on keeping large herds of reindeer, spread from Norwegian and Swedish Lapland to Enontekiö. The reindeer-Sami of Enontekiö had a
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic way of life; they moved with their animals between the coniferous forests in the south to Kåfjord,
Kvænangen
Kvænangen ( sme, Návuotna; fkv, Naavuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. The European route E6 highway goes through the municipality and over th ...
, and
Nordreisa
Nordreisa ( se, Ráisa ; fkv, Raisi) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storslett. Other villages include O ...
on the coast of the Arctic Ocean following the annual cycle of summer and winter grazing land. Enontekiö's last nomads did not settle down until the 1960s, but the culture of the reindeer-Sami is still preserved in the large-scale herding of reindeer. As of the 17th century, the first
Finnish people
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
settled down in the south of Enontekiö and introduced the culture of settled agriculture. Due to the Finnish immigration and the assimilation of the old-established Sami population, a Finnish majority emerged over the years.
Period of Russian sovereignty
In 1809 when Sweden ceded the region of today's Finland to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in the
Treaty of Fredrikshamn
The Treaty of Fredrikshamn ( sv, Freden i Fredrikshamn; russian: Фридрихсгамский мирный договор), or the Treaty of Hamina ( fi, Haminan rauha), was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on 17 Se ...
, Enontekiö became a part of the newly founded
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...
, too. Because the church of Markkina stood on the Swedish—and therefore wrong—side of the river after the Swedish-Russian demarcation, it was torn down in 1826. Its beams were shipped down the Muoniojoki to Palojoensuu, where the church was rebuilt as henceforth the fourth church of Enontekiö. Already in 1864, the church was again moved to Hetta, which had in the meantime became the largest settlement of the region. The closing of the Russian-Norwegian border in 1852 and of the Russian-Swedish border in 1889 had severe consequences for Enontekiö's reindeer-nomads, because they could no longer move with their herds to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. As a result, they transferred their grazing areas inland to the southeast and helped spread the culture of reindeer-herding to the remaining parts of Lapland. Due to the separation of the administration of the municipality from the church administration, the political municipality of Enontekiö came into existence in 1877.
After independence
With the Finnish declaration of independence in 1917, Enontekiö became a part of the independent republic of Finland, too.
During the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
(1941–1944), where Finland allied with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in fighting against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Enontekiö, together with all of northern Finland, was part of the operational region of the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
. In 1942, the Germans in Enontekiö started to establish the Sturmbock emplacement in occupied Norway and in
Petsamo Petsamo may refer to:
* Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922
* Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland
* Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo
* Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...
in order to protect the harbours on the Arctic Ocean. When Finland concluded the
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...
with the Soviet Union on September 4, 1944, committing themselves to expel the German troops, the Finnish-German
Lapland War
During World War II, the Lapland War ( fi , Lapin sota; sv, Lapplandskriget; german: Lapplandkrieg) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. ...
broke out. Lapland's civilian population had to be moved to a safe place in a very short time. Enontekiö's population was evacuated to neutral Sweden together with all of western Lapland's inhabitants. After the Germans quickly left southern Lapland, the 12,000 soldiers of the 7th ''Gebirgsdivision'' (Mountain Division) of the Wehrmacht occupied the Sturmbock emplacement at the end of October. During their fallback, the German applied the tactics of
scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
and devastated Enontekiö, too. During the cold winter, a
war of attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
was maintained between German troops, barricaded in their fortifications, and Finnish troops, who took a stand in Markkina. After the Wehrmacht had abandoned Petsamo and northern Norway, the Sturmbock emplacement was no longer of strategic value and was cleared without a struggle at the beginning of January in 1945. In order to secure the flank of
Lyngen
Lyngen ( se, Ivggu suohkan; fkv, Yykeän komuuni) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lyngseidet. Other villages include Furuflaten, Lattervika, Nord-Lenangen, ...
, their last emplacement in northern Norway, the Germans still operated in the north of the Käsivarsi region, where minor combat operations took place, before the last Wehrmacht soldiers left Finnish soil on April 27 at Kilpisjärvi.
Population
Population development and structure
Enontekiö currently has nearly 2,000 inhabitants. In the beginning 1990s, there were still 2,500 inhabitants. Because the structurally weak Lapland was hit harder by the Finnish economic crisis than the south, a wave of migration to expansion centers in the south started in the middle of the decade. Initially, the number of inhabitants also rapidly decreased in Enontekiö, but it now has consolidated at a lower level. Enontekiö's population consists of under the age of 15, between 15 and 64, and older than 64. The excess of men is conspicuous. They account for 53.2% of the population.Website of Enontekiö municipality: ''Tilastotietoa Enontekiön kunnasta''
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Sami
Enontekiö is part of the native settlement area of the indigenous
Sami people
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...
. Nineteen percent of the municipality's population are ethnic Sami, but only speak Sami as their native language. The municipality is part of the Sami "homeland" (''kotiseutualue''), which is defined by law and where Sami have special minority rights. Thus
Northern Sami
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
, the particular
Sami language
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...
used in Enontekiö, has official status in the municipality besides the
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
, and therefore is allowed to be used in contact with the authorities. Well-known Sami from Enontekiö are the artist,
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, known as ''Áillohaš'' in the Northern Sami language (23 March 1943 – 26 November 2001), was a Finnish Sami writer, musician and artist. He was born in Enontekiö in Lapland province, Finland. He lived most of his ...
and the
Joik
A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sapmi in Northern Europe. ...
-singer
Wimme
Wimme Saari (also known as just Wimme, b. 1959, Kelottijärvi, Enontekiö) is a Finnish Sami yoiker. Wimme Saari combines traditional Sami singing with his own improvisations, usually to a techno-ambient accompaniment by members of Finnish electr ...
.
Religion
Enontekiö's
Evangelical Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
s are part of the parish of Enontekiö, which is subordinate to the
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
of
Oulu
Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...
. It has been an independent parish since 1916, it had previously been a chapel parish of
Muonio
Muonio (previously called ''Muonionniska'', se, Muoná) is a municipality of Finland. The town is located in far northern Finland above the Arctic Circle on the country's western border, within the area of the former Lappi (Lapland) province. T ...
. As in the rest of Lapland, the
Laestadianism
Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperanc ...
, a conservative Lutheran movement of the
Great Awakening
Great Awakening refers to a number of periods of religious revival in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late ...
, is strongly represented in Enontekiö. The Laestadian are organised within the Evangelical Lutheran Church. From 1826 to 1849,
Lars Levi Laestadius
Lars Levi Laestadius (; 10 January 1800 – 21 February 1861) was a Swedish Sami pastor and administrator of the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who founded the Laestadian pietist revival movement to help his largely Sami congregations ...
, the founder of the Laestadianism, was pastor in
Karesuando
Karesuando (; fi, Kaaresuvanto or ; Sami: , or ) is the northernmost locality in Sweden. It is situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 303 inhabitants in 2010 and 350 in 2011.
It is a church village, located alongside ...
in Sweden, from where his doctrine quickly spread to the adjacent Enontekiö. The first awakening in Finland took place in the winter of 1846/47 in Enontekiö and Muonio.
Politics
Parliamentary elections
Results of the
2019 Finnish parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 14 April 2019. For the first time, no party received more than 20% of the vote. The Centre Party, which had been the largest party following the 2015 elections, dropped to fourth place, losing 18 seat ...
True Finns
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
15.2%
*
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...
14.7%
*
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
12.7%
*
Swedish People's Party
The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a list of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority ...
Green League
The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland.
Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...
9.0%
*
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
3.4%
Administration
After some contested decisions have been made during the 2017-2021 election period, some members of the formerly dominating Centre Party established the independent list ''Enontekiöläisten ääni'' ("Voice of the people of Enontekiö"). In the 2021 elections of the municipal council, which is the highest instance for local affairs, the new list ''Enontekiöläisten ääni'' gained the most votes and now provides five out of 17 representatives to the municipal council. Both of the large parties in rural Finland, the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...
and the Centre Party have three seats in the municipal council each. The
Green league
The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland.
Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...
and the local Sami list of ''Johtti Sápmelaččat'' have two representatives each. Like ''Enontekiöläisten ääni,'' also the
Finns Party
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
is new to the municipal council. The Finns Party as well as the
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
provide one representative to the municipal council each. Since 2017 the National Coalition Party and the Christian Democrats have been in a local alliance. The number of seats in the local municipal council is 17.
Coat of arms
Enontekiö's coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson. It depicts a silver, red-armoured
Willow grouse
The willow ptarmigan () (''Lagopus lagopus'') is a bird in the grouse subfamily Tetraoninae of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known as the willow grouse and in Ireland and Britain, where the subspecies '' L. l. scotica'' was previ ...
in a blue field. The willow grouse is a very prevalent bird in Northern Lapland and was an important food for Enontekiö's inhabitants in the past, which is why it is also called the "bird of life".
Twin municipalities
Enontekiö is a twin municipality with three of its neighbouring municipalities,
Kiruna
(; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norr ...
in Sweden,
Storfjord
Storfjord ( se, Omasvuotna ; fkv, Omasvuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hatteng. Other villages in Storfjord include Elvevoll, Oteren, and Skibotn.
T ...
and
Kautokeino
Kautokeino ( no, Kautokeino; se, Guovdageaidnu ; fkv, Koutokeino; fi, Koutokeino) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villages ...
in Norway.
Economy and infrastructure
Economy
Enontekiö's economic structure has a large percentage involved in the service sector: 76% of the gainfully employed population work in the tertiary sector, 45% of these work in civil service. Agriculture and forestry employ 13% of Enontekiö's inhabitants, the manufacturing sector 6%. As is usual in the structurally weak Lapland, the unemployment in Enontekiö is a big problem: In January 2007 with 24.7%, the municipality had the second highest unemployment rate of all Finnish municipalities. In 1996 at the peak of the Finnish economic crisis, the unemployment rate was near 40%.
Reindeer husbandry
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
was the dominant branch of business in Enontekiö for a long time. In the northwest of Lapland, reindeer husbandry has already been done for centuries, in contrast to the other regions of the Finnish reindeer husbandry area, where it was only introduced on a large scale in the 19th century after the eradication of the wild Finnish forest reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus fennicus''). Reindeer husbandry plays an important role even today. The herders are organised in the
cooperatives
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
(''paliskunta'') of Näkkälä and Käsivarsi and have a total of 20,000 semi-domesticated reindeer. Due to the climatic conditions, agriculture is scarcely possible, but dairy farming is operated on a small scale. Due to the sparse vegetation, forestry plays only a minor role.
Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
is a major branch of business in Enontekiö, even if there are fewer visitors than in those municipalities of Lapland which have big skiing centres. Enontekiö mostly attracts nature tourists, who travel to Lapland for hiking, fishing, canoeing, skiing or snowmobiling, as well as automobile tourists, such as those on their way to the North Cape. Annually, more than 100,000 overnight stays are registered. Twenty percent of the tourists are from abroad. The largest group are the Norwegians, followed by the Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and British. The Norwegians visit Enontekiö mainly for its low prices. The Norwegian shopping tourism made up 40% of the retail business volume in all of Enontekiö, and even 60–70% in Kilpisjärvi, near the border.
Transportation
Enontekiö's most important traffic connection is
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
Tornio
Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...
at the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...
, it follows the line of the Finnish–Swedish border and ends in Kilpisjärvi at the Norwegian border. The main road 93 branches off highway 21 at Palojoensuu and at first leads in an eastward direction to the municipal centre of Hetta and then further in a northward direction to the Norwegian border. The villages of the southern part of the municipality are connected to each other by small roads. But in the northern part of Enontekiö, highway 21 is the only road, taking a course next to the banks of the Muonionjoki and Könkämäeno; the uninhabited area between the river valley and the Norwegian border has no roads at all. There are three border crossings in Enontekiö: The village of Karesuvanto is connected by a bridge with the Swedish bank and there are border crossings to Norway in Kilpisjärvi and Kivilompolo.
The municipality has its own airport, (
Enontekiö Airport
Enontekiö Airport ( fi, Enontekiön lentoasema) is an airport located in Enontekiö, Finnish Lapland, west southwest of Hetta, the municipal centre of Enontekiö.
Overview
It is mainly used for charter flights during the winter, particularly ...
), west of Hetta. It is mainly approached by charter flights, whose passengers account for 95% of the airport's passenger volume. Regular flights to Enontekiö are established only in the spring. The company
Finncomm Airlines
Finnish Commuter Airlines Oy, trading as Finncomm Airlines, was a regional airline with its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in Ilmajoki, Finland, near Seinäjoki. The carrier operated flights to Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Roman ...
provides direct flights to Enontekiö from
Helsinki-Vantaa
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. Th ...
between March and May. The passenger volume of 13,700 passengers per year is relatively low.
Enontekiö is not connected to the railroad network. The next railroad station is in
Kolari
Kolari is a municipality of Finland at the Swedish border, which follows the Torne River, the longest free-flowing river in Europe.
It is located in the region of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which ...
, approximately to the south.
Education and social affairs
There are five primary schools in Enontekiö: In the Kilpisjärvi primary school, pupils are taught from preschool to 9th grade, in the schools of Karesuvanto, Hetta, and Peltojärvi, from preschool to 6th grade. Enontekiö's upper school is attended by pupils of the 7th to 9th grade. The higher education entrance qualification can be obtained after graduating from the upper school at the secondary school of Enontekiö. The primary schools of Kilpisjärvi and Karesuvanto and the upper school of Enontekiö offer native language education to Sami pupils. Adult education takes place at an adult education centre. The municipality's library is located in the main village of Hetta, more remote regions are supplied by a mobile library. The
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
runs a biological research station in Kilpisjärvi. The
University of Oulu
The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...
runs the
KAIRA Kaira or KAIRA may refer to:
Places
* Kaira (Lydia), a town of ancient Lydia, now in Turkey In India
* Kheda, also known as Kaira, a town in Gujarat, India
** Kaira district
** Kaira Agency, a former administrative unit
** Kaira (Lok Sabha constitu ...
radio telescope facility at Kilpisjärvi as well.
Healthcare is organised together with the neighbouring municipality of
Muonio
Muonio (previously called ''Muonionniska'', se, Muoná) is a municipality of Finland. The town is located in far northern Finland above the Arctic Circle on the country's western border, within the area of the former Lappi (Lapland) province. T ...
. In Enontekiö, there are two health centres for inpatient treatment, one in Hetta and one in Karesuvanto. Beds are available in Muonio's health centre.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The church of Enontekiö was built in the central village of Hetta in 1951/52 as a replacement for its predecessor, which was destroyed during the Lapland war; it is the sixth church of the municipality. It is a modern building made from brick and concrete and designed by the architect, Veikko Larkas. The slender church tower is 30 m high and is connected to the nave by a porch. The artist Uuno Eskola made the
altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
of the church with a combination of
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
and
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
techniques. It depicts the resurrected
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, who is blessing Lapland and its people. The church's
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
was a gift from Germany from 1958.
Due to their preserved old building structure, the villages of Kultima, Näkkälä, Nunnanen, Peltovuoma, Pöyrisjärvi, and Raittijärvi are officially listed cultural monuments. The stone bridge of Ahdaskuru, erected in 1943 near the Norwegian border, is also listed; it is the only bridge in Lapland which was not destroyed during the Lapland War.Finnish Preservation List 1993 ''Kultiman kylä''
Museums
There are three museums in Enontekiö: The buildings of the museum of local history, which opened in 1991, were moved to Hetta from different villages in the municipality. They are a farmhouse from Raattama from the end of the 19th century, a living room from Ylikyrö from the 1920s, a storehouse also from Ylikyrö from the 18th century, a sauna from Muotkajärvi built in 1937, and a cattle shed from Kaukonen in the neighbouring municipality of Kittilä. The nature and culture centre of Fjell-Lapland is maintained by the Finnish Forest Office (''Metsähallitus'') and is located in Hetta, too. With its exhibitions, it shows the nature of northern Lapland and the culture of the reindeer-Sami. In Järämä, approximately 20 km north of Karesuvanto, a part of the Sturmbock emplacement from the Lapland War was restored. Since 1997, there is an annexed museum, dealing with the history of the Lapland War in Enontekiö.
Regular events
Since 1971, a Sami cultural event, the Mary's Days of Hetta (''Hetan Marianpäivät''), is held at the beginning of March. It continues the old Sami tradition of meeting in the church village on special holidays. Today, Mary's Days include performances of Sami music, art exhibitions, contests of riding a reindeer sleigh and roping. At Easter, a church and chamber music festival, the Music Days of Hetta (''Hetan musiikkipäivät''), is held in Enontekiö. From the end of April to the beginning of May, a contest of
ice fishing
Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities.
Shelters
Longer ...
(''Kilpisjärven pilkkiviikot'') attracts fishermen. In late summer, a tournament of
orienteering
Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...
(''Suomen tunturisuunnistus'') is held on the fells near Kilpisjärvi.
Anni-Kristiina Juuso
Anni-Kristiina Juuso ( se, Ánne Risten Juuso; born 4 May 1979, in Ivalo, Finland) is a Sámi actress, who played the leading female role in the movies '' The Cuckoo'' and ''The Kautokeino Rebellion''. She was awarded Russia's Best Actress award ...
, actress
*
Aslak Juuso Óslác is a theophoric Anglo-Saxon given name, cognate to Old Norse ''Ásleikr''/''Áslákr'' (Latinised ''Ansleicus'', modern Scandinavian ''Aslak'') and to Old High German ''Ansleh'' (''Anslech'', ''Ansleccus''). It is composed of '' ós'' "god" ...
, a herder
* Pigga Keskitalo, Sámi politician and academic
*
Yrjö Kokko
Yrjö Olavi Samuli Kokko (16 October 1903 in Sortavala – 6 September 1977 in Helsinki) was a Finnish writer and veterinarian. He wrote more than 20 books, among them ''Pessi and Illusia'' (''Pessi ja Illusia'', 1944), ''Singing Swan of fate Bird ...
, writer
*
Ilmari Mattila
Ilmari is a Finnish male given name. It is a short form of Ilmarinen, a mythological smith in the Kalevala. Notable people with the name include:
* Ilmari Aalto (1891–1934), Finnish painter
* Ilmari Auer (1879–1965), Finnish politician
*Ilmar ...
, actress
*
Juhani Raattamaa Juhani is a common Finnish male given name and Arabic surname.
Given name
* Juhani Aaltonen (born 1935), Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist
* Juhani Aho
* Juhani Kaskeala
* Juhani Komulainen
* Juhani Kumpulainen
* Juhani Lahtinen
* Juhani "Jui ...
, "lay preacher"
*
Wimme Saari
Wimme Saari (also known as just Wimme, b. 1959, Kelottijärvi, Enontekiö) is a Finnish Sami yoiker. Wimme Saari combines traditional Sami singing with his own improvisations, usually to a techno-ambient accompaniment by members of Finnish electr ...
, singer
*
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, known as ''Áillohaš'' in the Northern Sami language (23 March 1943 – 26 November 2001), was a Finnish Sami writer, musician and artist. He was born in Enontekiö in Lapland province, Finland. He lived most of his ...
, writer, artist and musician
*
Niko Valkeapää
Niko-Mihkal Valkeapää (born 30 December 1968 in Enontekiö, Finland) is a Sami musician, joiker (Sami folk singer), teacher, actor and politician.
Biography
He has been described as "one of Sami music's foremost performers." Valkeapää has ...