Enontekiö

Infobox_Maakunta
name=Enontekiö
name_fin=Enontekiö
name_swe=Enontekis| isocode=|nutscode=
capital=|province=Lapland Province
historical=Laponia
area=8,391.53 [ [http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/default.asp?id=894 Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish land surveying office)] ] |areapercent=
population_as_of=2007|populationrank=Not ranked
population=1,988 [ [http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/vrk/files.nsf/files/37CBF4F967656F6EC2257315003022B3/$file/070630.htm Väestorekisterikeskus (Finnish population register)] , as of 30/6/2007] |populationpercent=|populationdensity=0.25
bird=|fish=-|flower=

Enontekiö [IPA|ˈɛnɔntɛkiœ] (northern Sami: "Eanodat", Swedish: "Enontekis") is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approx. 2,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of nearly 8,400 km² between the Swedish and Norwegian border. Finland's highest point, the Halti fell (1,324 m), lies in the north of Enontekiö, where the municipality occupies a part of the Scandinavian Mountains. The administrative centre of Enontekiö is the village of Hetta. About one fifth of the community's population are Sami people. Enontekiö's main industries are tourism and reindeer husbandry.

Geography

Location and dimensions

Enontekiö is located in the province of Lapland in the outermost northwest tip of Finland. The bulge between Swedish and Norwegian border, which is occupied by the municipality of Enontekiö, is called "Käsivarsi" (Finnish for "arm"), because before World War II, Finland's borders had the shape of a woman's figure ("Suomi-neito") and the area looked like her raised right arm. The municipality occupies a large and sparsely populated area of 8,392 km² (more than three times the area of Luxemburg). Thus Enontekiö is Finland's third-largest municipality in size, after Inari and Sodankylä, and with a population density of only 0.25 inhabitants per km², it is the second-most sparsely populated municipality, after Savukoski.

Enontekiö's neighbouring municipalities are Inari in the east, Kittilä in the southeast, and Muonio in the south; on the Swedish side in the west, there is the municipality of Kiruna and on the Norwegian side in the north, there are Storfjord, Gáivuotna (Kåfjord), Nordreisa, and Kautokeino. Enontekiö shares a border of more than 450 km with the two adjacent states. The border to Sweden is formed by the river Muonionjoki and its tributary, Könkämäeno.

Villages

The main village of Enontekiö is the settlememt of Hetta in the south, with approx. 800 inhabitants. There is no village with the name of Enontekiö, but Hetta is often called the municipality's name. Other important places are the village of Kilpisjärvi, which is located near the border triangle of Finland-Sweden-Norway, as well as Karesuvanto and Palojoensuu, both of which are located at the Muonionjoki at the Swedish border. Enontekiö's villages are concentrated in the southern area and along the banks of the rivers Könkämäeno and Muonionjoki in the west of the municipality. Often, there is a corresponding village on the Swedish side of the river, bearing the same name (or the Swedish form of the name), e.g. Karesuvanto/Karesuando. In contrast, the part of the Käsivarsi Mountains away from the rivers is almost completely uninhabited.

The following villages belong to Enontekiö (Sami name, if available, in parentheses):

Coat of arms

Enontekiö's coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson. It depicts a silver, red-armoured Willow Grouse in a blue field. The Willow Grouse is a very prevalent bird in Northern Lapland and was an important food for Enontekiö's inhabitants in the past, which is why it is also called the "bird of life".

Twin municipalities

Enontekiö is a twin municipality with three of its neighbouring municipalities, Kiruna in Sweden, Storfjord and Kautokeino in Norway.

Economy and infrastructure

Economy

Enontekiö's economic structure has a large percentage involved in the service sector: 76 % of the gainfully employed population work in the tertiary sector, 45 % of these work in civil service. Agriculture and forestry employ 13 % of Enontekiö's inhabitants, the manufacturing sector 6 %. [As of 2001, [http://www.enontekio.fi/web/files/strategiaohjelma2003_2008.doc Municipality Enontekiö: "Enontekiön kehittämisstrategia ja toimepideohjelma 2003-2008] , p. 12. (Finn.)] As is usual in the structurally weak Lapland, the unemployment in Enontekiö is a big problem: In January 2007 with 24.7 %, the municipality had the second highest unemployment rate of all Finnish municipalities. [ [http://www.kuntalehti.fi/default.asp?sc=3483&sa=83308 Kuntalehti: "Työvoiman riittävyys mielenkiinnon kohteeksi", 7/3/2007] (Finn.)] In 1996 at the peak of the Finnish economic crisis, the unemployment rate was near 40 %. [ [http://www.enontekio.fi/web/files/strategiaohjelma2003_2008.doc Municipality Enontekiö: "Enontekiön kehittämisstrategia ja toimepideohjelma 2003-2008] , p. 12. (Finn.)]

Reindeer husbandry was the dominant branch of business in Enontekiö for a long time. In the northwest of Lapland, reindeer husbandry has already been done for centuries, in contrast to the other regions of the Finnish reindeer husbandry area, where it was only introduced on a large scale in the 19^th century after the eradication of the wild Finnish Forest Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus). Reindeer husbandry plays an important role even today. The breeders are organised in the cooperatives ("paliskunta") of Näkkälä and Käsivarsi and have a total of 20,000 semi-domesticated reindeer. [ [http://matkailu.enontekio.fi/contentparser.asp?deptid=14948&ProductID=986&showmodul=76 Tourism Portal of Municipality Enontekiö: "Poronhoito ja muut luontaiselinkeinot"] (Finn.)] Due to the climatic conditions, agriculture is scarcely possible, but dairy farming is operated on a small scale. Due to the sparse vegetation, forestry plays only a minor role.

Tourism is a major branch of business in Enontekiö, even if there are fewer visitors than in those municipalities of Lapland which have big skiing centres. Enontekiö mostly attracts nature tourists, who travel to Lapland for hiking, fishing, canooing, skiing or snowmobiling, as well as automobile tourists, such as those on their way to the North Cape. Annually, more than 100,000 overnight stays are registered. Twenty percent of the tourists are from abroad. The largest group are the Norwegians, followed by the Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and British. [As of 2002, [http://www.enontekio.fi/web/files/strategiaohjelma2003_2008.doc Municipality Enontekiö: "Enontekiön kehittämisstrategia ja toimepideohjelma 2003-2008] , p. 34. (Finn.)] The Norwegians visit Enontekiö mainly for its low prices. The Norwegian shopping tourism made up 40 % of the retail business volume in all of Enontekiö, and even 60-70 % in Kilpisjärvi, near the border. [ [http://www.enontekio.fi/web/files/strategiaohjelma2003_2008.doc Municipality Enontekiö: "Enontekiön kehittämisstrategia ja toimepideohjelma 2003-2008] , p. 30. (Finn.)]

Transportation

Enontekiö's most important traffic connection is highway 21. Along its entire route, starting in Tornio at the Gulf of Bothnia, it follows the line of the Finnish-Swedish border and ends in Kilpisjärvi at the Norwegian border. The main road 93 branches off highway 21 in Palojoensuu and at first leads in an eastward direction to the municipal centre of Hetta and then further in a northward direction to the Norwegian border. The villages of the southern part of the municipality are connected to each other by small roads. But in the northern part of Enontekiö, highway 21 is the only road, taking a course next to the banks of the Muonionjoki and Könkämäeno; the uninhabitated area between the river valley and the Norwegian border has no roads at all. There are three border crossings in Enontekiö: The village of Karesuvanto is connected by a bridge with the Swedish bank and there are border crossings to Norway in Kilpisjärvi and Kivilompolo.

The municipality has its own airport, (Airport Enontekiö), west of Hetta. It is mainly approached by charter flights, whose passengers account for 95 % of the airport's passenger volume. Regular flights to Enontekiö are established only in the spring. The company Finncomm Airlines provides direct flights to Enontekiö from Helsinki-Vantaa between March and May. The passenger volume of 13,700 passengers per year [As of 2005, [http://www.finavia.fi/airport_enontekio Finavia (Finnish Office of Aviation)] ] is relatively low.

Enontekiö is not connected to the railroad network. The next railroad station is in Kolari, approx. 150 km to the south.

Education and social affairs

There are five primary schools in Enontekiö: In the Kilpisjärvi primary school, pupils are taught from preschool to 9^th grade, in the schools of Karesuvanto, Hetta, and Peltojärvi, from preschool to 6^th grade. Enontekiö's upper school is attended by pupils of the 7^th to 9^th grade. The higher education entrance qualification can be obtained after graduating from the upper school at the secondary school of Enontekiö. The primary schools of Kilpisjärvi and Karesuvanto and the upper school of Enontekiö offer native language education to Sami pupils. Adult education takes place at an adult education centre. The municipality's library is located in the main village of Hetta, more remote regions are supplied by a mobile library. The University of Helsinki runs a biological research station in Kilpisjärvi.

Healthcare is organised together with the neighbouring municipality of Muonio. In Enontekiö, there are two federal health centres for inpatient treatment, one in Hetta and one in Karesuvanto. Beds are available in Muonio's health centre.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The church of Enontekiö was built in the central village of Hetta in 1951/52 as a replacement for its predecessor, which was destroyed during the Lapland war; it is the sixth church of the municipality. It is a modern building made from brick and concrete and designed by the architect, Veikko Larkas. The slender church tower is 30 m high and is connected to the nave by a porch. The artist Uuno Eskola made the altarpiece of the church with a combination of fresco and mosaic techniques. It depicts the resurrected Jesus Christ, who is blessing Lapland and its people. The church's organ was a gift from Germany from 1958.

Due to their preserved old building structure, the villages of Kultima, Näkkälä, Nunnanen, Peltovuoma, Pöyrisjärvi, and Raittijärvi are officially listed cultural monuments. The stone bridge of Ahdaskuru, erected in 1943 near the Norwegian border, is also listed; it is the only bridge in Lapland which was not destroyed during the Lapland War. [Finnish Preservation List 1993: [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde581.htm "Kultiman kylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde580.htm "Näkkälän kylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde582.htm "Nunnasen kylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde583.htm "Peltovuoman kylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde579.htm "Pöyrisjärven kesäkylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde584.htm "Raittijärven kylä"] , [http://www.nba.fi/rky1993/kohde586.htm "Ahdaskurun silta"] (Finn.)]

Museums

There are three museums in Enontekiö: The buildings of the museum of local history, which opened in 1991, were moved to Hetta from different villages in the municipality. They are a farmhouse from Raattama from the end of the 19^th century, a living room from Ylikyrö from the 1920s, a storehouse also from Ylikyrö from the 18^th century, a sauna from Muotkajärvi built in 1937, and a cattle shed from Kaukonen in the neighbouring municipality of Kittilä. The nature and culture centre of Fjell-Lapland is maintained by the Finnish Forest Office ("Metsähallitus") and is located in Hetta, too. With its exhibitions, it shows the nature of northern Lapland and the culture of the reindeer-Sami. In Järämä, approx. 20 km north of Karesuvanto, a part of the Sturmbock emplacement from the Lapland War was restored. Since 1997, there is an annexed museum, dealing with the history of the Lapland War in Enontekiö.

Regular events

Since 1971, a Sami cultural event, the Mary's Days of Hetta ("Hetan Marianpäivät"), is held at the beginning of March. It continues the old Sami tradition of meeting in the church village on special holidays. Today, Mary's Days include performances of Sami music, art exhibitions, contests of riding a reindeer sleigh and roping. At Easter, a church and chamber music festival, the Music Days of Hetta ("Hetan musiikkipäivät"), is held in Enontekiö. From the end of April to the beginning of May, a contest of ice fishing ("Kilpisjärven pilkkiviikot") attracts fishermen. In late summer, a tournament of orienteering ("Suomen tunturisuunnistus") is held on the fells near Kilpisjärvi.

External links

* [http://www.enontekio.fi/web/index.php?id=3 Website of the municipality] (Engl./Finn.)
* [http://matkailu.enontekio.fi/?deptid=15536 Tourism portal of the municipality] (Engl./Finn.)

References