Kittilä ( se, Gihttel, smn, Kittâl, sms, Kihttel) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

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 Bo ...

and a popular holiday resort. It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is . Kittilä is famous for being the location of the lowest recorded temperature in Finnish history: , measured in January 1999 in Pokka. 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, ...

" is above the horizon from 29 May to 16 July, and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer,

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 ...

from 14 December to 29 December.

Climate

Kittilä has a subarctic climate ( Dfc) as a result of its northerly location and being far inland, which renders strong seasonal shifts. The sun does not set between 30 May and 15 July (47 days), and white nights lasts from early May to early August. The period that the sun does not rise lasts from 14 December to 29 December (16 days), the exact boundaries depending on local topography. Although winter temperatures are cold they are still less severe than in similar locations elsewhere in the world due to some

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Uni ...

influence. In summer temperatures generally are moderate, although warm days are possible. On 28 January 1999, Pokka, Kittilä recorded the official lowest temperature in Finland, -51,5 °C (-60,7 °F).

Economy

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kittilä had a tourism boom. The village of Lainio became a hotbed for tourism innovation and included the planned construction of glass-roofed cabins for viewing of the

aurora 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 bri ...

and luxury accommodations built around

Neitokainen Neitokainen (also called Neitojärvi or Finlantto) is an artificial pond in Finland. It was constructed in the municipality of Kittilä on the slope of Vesikkovaara in 1991. It is known for being shaped in the cartographic form of Finland. The l ...

, a Finland-shaped lake. The

Iriadamant The Iriadamant were a community that lived in northern Finland from 1991–1993. The residents of the community were mainly French and Belgian but dressed in Native American costumes. The group arrived in Finland with the support of Professor Erkki ...

eco-cult made a deal with a tourism company to act as an attraction in exchange for land and provisions. The ski resort

Levi Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and ...

is situated in the village of Sirkka, Kittilä on Levi Fell (in Finnish "Levitunturi") (

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

531 metres (1742 feet)). The resort hosts a slalom event early each season on the Alpine World Cup circuit and offers both downhill and cross-country skiing to the public, as well as snow shoeing, including to the next nearest

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 moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

, Kätkätunturi, located west of Levitunturi. Kätkätunturi is high and long. On 5 June 2006, it was announced that a Canadian mining corporation Agnico-Eagle Mines will start a new

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: * Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith * Gold mining *G ...

in Kittilä. Once completed, it will be the biggest gold mine in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. Experts say that the deposits hold at least three million ounces of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

, by current market price worth 1.8 billion U.S. dollars. The mine is expected to produce an average of 150,000 ounces of gold annually for at least 13 years.

Transportation

Kittilä Airport Kittilä Airport , fi, Kittilän lentoasema, is a Finnish airport located in Kittilä inside the Arctic Circle. It handles general aviation and mostly seasonal international traffic and is one of the main airports in Northern Finland. During t ...

is served by

Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and internatio ...

and Norwegian Air.

TUI Airways TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline is t ...

also serves the airport from various UK bases as part of their programme of ski flights, as well as Christmas specials and flights in support of th
When You Wish Upon A Star
children's foundation. The

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...

group also has flights between

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and Kittilä.

Notable residents

* Kalervo Palsa, artist *

Arto Paasilinna Arto Tapio Paasilinna (, approximately ; 20 April 1942 – 15 October 2018) was a Finnish writer, being a former journalist turned comic novelist. One of Finland's most successful novelists,exVirtual Finland, 2007 Archived at Wayback Machine. he w ...

, novelist, born in Kittilä *

Reidar Särestöniemi Reidar Särestöniemi (14 May 1925, Kittilä – 27 May 1981, Kittilä) was a Finnish painter from Finnish Lapland. He is considered one of the greatest Finland-Lappish artists in the entire history of Finland. Särestöniemi was born as the you ...

, artist

References

External links

Home page of Kittilä

Ski Resort Levi

levi-lapland.com

Särestöniemi museo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittila Mining towns in Finland Populated places established in 1954