Ivalo ( smn, Avveel, se, Avvil, sms, Âʹvvel) is a village in the municipality of

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, ...

, Lapland,

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 ...

, located on the

Ivalo River The Ivalo River ( fi, Ivalojoki, sme, Avviljohka, smn, Avveeljuuhâ) is a river that flows through upper Lapland into Lake Inari. The Ivalo River starts from the Korsatunturi hugging the border between the communities of Inari and Enontek ...

south of

Lake Inari Lake Inari ( fi, Inarijärvi/Inarinjärvi, se, Anárjávri, smn, Aanaarjävri, sms, Aanarjäuʹrr, sv, Enare träsk, no, Enaresjøen) is the largest lake in Sápmi and the third-largest lake in Finland. It is located in the northern part of L ...

in 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 ...

. It has a population of 3,998 and a small

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

. south of Ivalo is a very popular resort named

Saariselkä Saariselkä ( Inari Sami: ''Suolluščielgi,'' se, Suoločielgi, literally ''islandback'') is a fell area in Lapland, northern Finland. It is located in the Inari, Savukoski and Sodankylä municipalities. The highest point is high Mt Sokusti. ...

. Many tourists visit this place every year for winter sports (downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, husky and reindeer sledge riding) and for summer activities (trekking and hiking in the Saariselkä fjells, canoeing in Lapland's rivers, mountain biking, panning for gold,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, etc.). Ivalo was severely damaged during the

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. ...

(1944–1945) by retreating German troops led by Generaloberst

Lothar Rendulic Lothar Rendulic ( hr, Rendulić; 23 October 1887 – 17 January 1971)Rudolf Neck, Adam Wandruszka, Isabella Ackerl (ed.) (1980): ''Protokolle des Ministerrates der Ersten Republik, 1918–1938, Abteilung VIII, 20. Mai 1932 bis 25. Juli 1934''. ...

. The village was subsequently extensively rebuilt. 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 ...

" is above the horizon from 24 May to 22 July (70 days), and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer. The

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 ...

is from 28 November to 9 January (43 days).

History

The village of Kyrö was established in the 1750s by the Finnish settler Henrik (Heikki) Mikonpoika Kyrö, who came from the Tornio valley. Before settling in Inari, he spent some time in

Enontekiö Enontekiö (; sme, Eanodat ; sv, Enontekis; smn, Iänudâh; sms, Jeänõk) is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approx. inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very spars ...

and

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 ...

. Ivalo was officially a separate village since the mid-19th century, but the name only gained wide usage in the early 20th century. Some people in Inari also knew it as ''Iivalo''. Ivalo started growing after a road leading to

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 ...

was built. Kyrö had been fully merged into Ivalo by 1940.

History

See also