Lake Inari / Inarijärvi

Lake Inari, in the far north of Finland, is the country's third largest lake, with an area of 1,300sq.km/500sq.mi (80km/50mi long by 41km/25mi wide) - though the area of the lake, with its numerous indentations and ramifications, cannot be exactly determined. The number of islands in the lake is usually given as 3,000. This bizarre world on the 69th parallel is one of the most fascinating regions in Finland.

Topography

The shores of the Inarijärvi are rocky, lined with forests of spruce, pine and birch, all in dwarf arctic forms. On the northwestern shore of the lake, northeast of Partakki (on the Kaamanen-Sevettijärvi road), the line above which the spruce will not grow reaches down to the lake. Until well into spring the climate is of arctic severity, since the Scandinavian mountains block the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream which washes the Norwegian coast. The ice on the lake frequently does not break up until June. Here late winter merges almost imperceptibly into early summer, with at most one or two weeks which can be called spring.

Population

The country around Lake Inari is thinly populated. The commune of Inari is the largest in Finland, with an area of 17,000sq.km/6,560sq.mi. Of the 7,000 inhabitants a fifth are Sami. In the little town of Inari there are separate schools for Sami and Finns.