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