Altaelva ( en, Alta River; sme, Álttáeatnu; fkv, Alattionjoki) is the third-longest river in

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The river begins in the mountains and lakes in

Kautokeino Municipality 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 village ...

, near the border with

county and

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 ...

, just south of

Reisa National Park , iucn_category = II , photo = Reisa National Park logo.svg , photo_width = 180 , map_image = Mollisfossen.jpg , map_caption = Mollisfossen waterfall , location = Nordreisa, Troms, Norway , nearest_city = ...

. The long river then runs northward into

Alta Municipality ( se, Áltá ; fkv, Alattio; fi, Alattio) is the most populated municipality in Finnmark in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the municipality in ...

where it flows out into the

Altafjorden Altafjord ( en, Alta Fjord;Koop, Gerhard, & Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 2000. ''Heavy Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class: Warships of the Kriegsmarine''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, p. 55. no, Altafjorden; fkv, Alattionvuono) is a fjord in A ...

in the town of Alta. The river has carved out

Sautso Sautso ( sme, Čávžu), also referred as Alta Canyon, is a canyon (valley) along the river Altaelva in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The valley is located in Alta Municipality, just north of the border with Kautokeino Municipality. The canyon ...

, one of the largest

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

s in Europe on its way from the high

Finnmarksvidda Finnmarksvidda ( sme, Finnmárkkoduottar; en, Finnmark plateau/highland) is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than . The plateau lies about above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark lies on the Finnmarksvidda. Geography Fr ...

plateau down to the sea. The villages of

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 ...

and Masi are located along the river, in addition to the town of Alta. During the 1970s and 1980s, the river was the site of the

Alta controversy The Alta conflict or Alta controversy refers to a series of massive protests in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta River in Finnmark, Northern Norway. Timeline *Inhabitan ...

regarding the construction of a hydroelectric power plant. The

Alta power station Alta power station ( no, Alta kraftverk) is a hydroelectric power station located on the Alta-Kautokeino River in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The power station is located in Alta Municipality, just north of the border with Kautokeino Munic ...

was eventually built in 1987, creating the lake

Virdnejávri Virdnejávri is a lake in the municipality of Kautokeino-Guovdageaidnu in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The lake is a man-made lake located on the river Kautokeinoelva which flows over the Finnmarksvidda plateau. The dam at the northern end ...

on the river. The river is one of the best

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

rivers in Norway, known for its large-sized salmon. In older days, salmon up to were recorded, and still fish up to are caught.http://www.nrk.no/24 kg salmon caught on fishing rod in Alta river July 2011
/ref> In 2011, 1,082 salmon ( or heavier) were caught on the river.

Name

The ''Altaelva'' literally means the "Alta River" in English. The

Northern Sami language 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 ...

version of the name is and the

Kven language The Kven language ( or ; or ; fi, kveeni or ; no, kvensk) is a Finnic language or a group of Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost parts of Norway by the Kven people. For political and historical reasons, it received the status of a mino ...

version of the name is . The part of the river that is upstream (south) of the Alta dam is also called ''Kautokeinoelva'', meaning the "Kautokeino River", since that part of the river lies in Kautokeino. That part of the river is also known as or in the Northern Sami language.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Troms og Finnmark Alta, Norway Kautokeino Rivers of Norway