Kilpisjärvi (; se, Gilbbesjávri ) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the municipality of

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 ...

, 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 ...

. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland. Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages in Enontekiö, it is still quite small. In 2000 its population was recorded as 114. Like most

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 ...

villages, Kilpisjärvi is built mainly around one major road, ''Käsivarrentie'', or the "Arm Road" and ''Neljäntuulentie'', or the "Four Winds' Road" — also known as E8. Near Kilpisjärvi is the highest point of Finnish road network, at an elevation of 565.8 m. Kilpisjärvi has its own school and a hotel, and the northernmost research station of 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 ...

is situated there, as well as the KAIRA research facility. The best-known tourist attractions in Kilpisjärvi are 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 ...

fell and the " three-country border point", a monument at the border point of Finland,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

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 ...

, located at approximately , roughly 2.5 km northwest from the end of

Lake Kilpisjärvi Kilpisjärvi is a medium-sized lake located at the north-western tip of Finland and northernmost Sweden. Treriksröset, the point where the borders of Finland, Sweden and Norway join is located some northwest from the lake. The lake is divided ...

. Over the lake, Sweden is within viewing distance, and by road, Norway is less than to the north. In the music video for

Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoye ...

Poor Leno "Poor Leno" is the third single released by the Norwegian duo Röyksopp. It was released in December 2001 as the second single from the band's debut album, '' Melody A.M.''. The vocals are sung by Erlend Øye. It is used in the sixth-generation ...

, Leno's place of origin is listed as Kilpisjärvi.

2015 school fire

The building of the Kilpisjärvi school burned down on 3 May 2015. It had been occupied by travellers at the time. The fire started from a

recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...

parked next to the building. The fire destroyed thousands of

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s worth of euro

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s that had been stored at the school. The money had been collected as donations to fund a study trip for the school's pupils, but had been stored at the school because the school staff had been unable to find a bank office capable of depositing the money to the school's bank account. The nearest office of

Nordea Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a European financial services group operating in northern Europe and based in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the successive m ...

, where the school had an account, capable of depositing cash was in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, 440 km away from Kilpisjärvi. Nordea has pledged to donate 4000 euros to the school as reimbursement for the lost money.Halminen, Laura:
Lappilaiskoululaisten leirikoulurahat paloivat pitkien talletusmatkojen takia – Nordea lupaa korvata tuhannet eurot
', ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'' online edition 5 May 2015. Accessed on 6 May 2015.

Climate

Kilpisjärvi has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: Dfc) bordering closely on an alpine tundra climate (ET) with only one month above the 10° C (50° F) threshold. Summertime is typically cool and rainy with crisp nights. Winter is very long, cold, and snowy. It typically begins during October and lasts into May most years.

References

External links

Kilpisjärvi tourist information

Tundrea, Kilpisjarvi Holiday Resort

Eskelisen Lapinlinjat, offering daily bus trips to and from Kilpisjärvi

''Climatological statistics for the normal period 1981–2010'' (PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilpisjarvi Villages in Finland Enontekiö