Lemmenjoki National Park
Encyclopedia
Inari, Finland
Inari 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 and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...
and Kittilä
Kittilä
Kittilä is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, Lapland, in Northern Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It was founded in 1956 and has since been expanded twice. Its total area is 2850 square kilometres (1,100 sq mi), making it the biggest national park of Finland and one of the largest in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
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The park is named after the Lemmenjoki River, an 80 kilometre long river running through it.
The park is partly bordered by the Øvre Anarjóhka National Park
Øvre Anarjóhka National Park
Øvre Anárjohka National Park lies in Karasjok and Kautokeino municipalities in Finnmark county, Norway. The park was opened in 1976 and is 1409 km² in area. It borders on Lemmenjoki National Park in Finland. Øvre Anárjohka is part of the Finnmark plateau and includes extensive birch woods, pine...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
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Around 100 people can be seen digging gold in the area in the summer on 40 claims. Most of the people in the park – around 10,000 people per year – are backpackers, though. There are about 60 kilometre marked paths in the national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, and even some bridges and boats are put up for travelers. There are more than ten free wilderness hut
Wilderness hut
A wilderness hut is a rent-free, open dwelling place for temporary accommodation, usually located in wilderness areas, national parks and along backpacking routes. As such, the tradition is largely found in Finland, and to some extent in Sweden, Norway, and northern Russia too.The huts can be...
s in the park and three chargeable, bookable ones.
The gold-digging area contains two small airfields, Martiniiskonpalo (467 m (1,532.2 ft)) and Keurulainen (about 500 metre). They can be used for landing or taking off with small propeller planes.