Inari, Finland

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Inari
InariAanaarAnárAanar
Municipality
Inarin kunta
Lapland Shop in Inari in 1975
Lapland Shop in Inari in 1975
Coat of arms of Inari
Coat of arms
Location of Inari in Finland
Location of Inari in Finland
Coordinates: 68°54′18″N 027°01′49″E / 68.90500°N 27.03028°E / 68.90500; 27.03028Coordinates: 68°54′18″N 027°01′49″E / 68.90500°N 27.03028°E / 68.90500; 27.03028
Country Finland
Region Lapland
Sub-region Northern Lapland
Charter 1876
Government
 • Municipal manager Reijo Timperi
Area (2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 17,333.77 km2 (6,692.61 sq mi)
 • Land 15,052.36 km2 (5,811.75 sq mi)
 • Water 2,281.41 km2 (880.86 sq mi)
Area rank Largest in Finland
Population (2015-06-30)[2]
 • Total 6,783
 • Rank 152nd largest in Finland
 • Density 0.45/km2 (1.2/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 92.7% (official)
 • Swedish 0.2%
 • Sami 5.9% (official)
 • Others 1.1%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 13.8%
 • 15 to 64 68.8%
 • 65 or older 17.4%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 19%
Website www.inari.fi

Inari (Inari Sami: Aanaar, Northern Sami: Anár, Skolt Sami: Aanar, Swedish: Enare, Russian: Инари) is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry, nature maintenance and tourism. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture. The airport in Ivalo and the country's key north-south European Route E75 (Finland's National Road 4) bring summer and winter vacationers who look for resorts with access to well-preserved, uncrowded outdoors.

Demographics[edit]

Population[edit]

The municipality of Inari has a population of 6,783 (30 June 2015).[2] The population density is 0.45 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.2/sq mi).

Its two largest villages are Ivalo and Inari. Other villages are Törmänen, Keväjärvi, Koppelo, SevettijärviNäätämö, Saariselkä, Nellim, Angeli, Kaamanen, Kuttura, Lisma, Partakko, and Riutula.

Languages[edit]

The municipality has four official languages: Finnish, Inari Sami (ca. 400 estimated speakers), Skolt Sami (ca. 400 speakers), and Northern Sami (ca. 700 speakers). The estimates of how many people have some command of each of the Sami languages differ from the number of people who list them as their mother tongues. Of the total population of 6,863 in 2010, 6,366 people registered Finnish and 400 people registered one of the Sami languages as their mother tongue. Ninety-seven inhabitants were native speakers of other languages.

Citizenship[edit]

Only about 1%, 78 persons, were citizens of countries other than Finland in 2010.

Geography[edit]

Inari is the largest municipality in Finland. Located in Lapland, it covers an area of 17,333.77 square kilometres (6,692.61 sq mi),[1] of which 2,281.41 km2 (880.86 sq mi) is water. With an area of 1,043 km2 (403 sq mi), Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland, 40 km2 (15 sq mi) smaller than the country's second largest Lake Päijänne.

Finland's largest National Park Lemmenjoki is partly located in Inari, as is the Urho Kekkonen National Park. Vast parts of the municipality are designated wilderness areas: Hammastunturi, Muotkatunturi, Paistunturi, Kaldoaivi, Vätsäri, and Tsarmitunturi.

The village of Inari is Finland's northernmost holiday resort. The airport is located in the nearby village of Ivalo.

Politics[edit]

Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Inari:

History[edit]

The municipality was established in 1876.

Sites of interest[edit]

In popular culture[edit]

The trilogy His Dark Materials by the English writer Philip Pullman, which takes place in an alternative world somewhat similar to our own, features a prominent character, Serafina Pekkala, who is a witch queen from a tribe near Lake Inari. A character in The Snow Queen, a fantasy novel by the American author Mercedes Lackey, enters the Underworld and comes across a group of villagers from Inari. A thriller written by Gavin Lyall (1965, The Most Dangerous Game) acts in and around Inari.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (PDF) (in Finnish and Swedish). Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 9 March 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "VÄESTÖTIETOJÄRJESTELMÄ REKISTERITILANNE 30.06.2015" (in Finnish and Swedish). Population Register Center of Finland. Retrieved 17 July 2015. 
  3. ^ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009. 
  4. ^ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009. 
  5. ^ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 

External links[edit]

Media related to Inari at Wikimedia Commons