Inari (; ; ; ; Norwegian and ; ) is Finland's largest municipality by area (but one of the most sparsely populated), with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are tourism, service industry, and cold climate testing. With the Siida museum in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sámi culture, widely known as the "capital of Sámi 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 seeking resorts with access to a well-preserved, uncrowded natural environment.

History

The municipality was established in 1876. It was claimed from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime during the Nazi occupation of Norway.

Geography

Inari is the largest municipality by area in Finland. Located in Lapland, it covers an area of , Inari is also among the driest locations in Finland, especially in the winter when the average precipitation total is less than half of the amount that Southern Finland receives. The driest year on record was 1941 when only 120,1 mm (4,7 inches) fell.

| source 2 = record highs and lows 1961–present

FMI(record highs and lows 1925-1961)

| date = April2016

| source =

Demographics

Population

The municipality of Inari has a population of ().

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

The registered Sámi population in Inari from the 2019 election was 2,141, which was 31% of Inari's population.

Languages

The municipality has four official languages: Finnish, Inari Sámi ( estimated speakers), Skolt Sámi ( speakers), and Northern Sámi ( speakers). The estimates of how many people have some command of each of the Sámi languages differ from the number of people who list them as their mother tongues. Of the total population of 7,008 in 2021, 6,249 people registered Finnish (87.68%) and 492 people registered one of the Sámi languages as their mother tongue (6.90%). Swedish is the mother tongue of 28 individuals (0.39%) and 358 people (5.02%) speak foreign languages. The most-spoken foreign languages are: Russian (0.95%), German (0.60%), French (0.35%), English (0.35%), Thai (0.34%), Tagalog (0.29%) and Dutch (0.25%) and .

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

Mother tongue in Inari

|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! rowspan="2" | Language

|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! 1990

! 2000

! 2010

! 2020

! 2023

|-

| Finnish

| align="right" | 94.02%

| align="right" | 93.15%

| align="right" | 92.53%

| align="right" | 89.35%

| align="right" | 87.68%

|-

| Sámi

| align="right" | 5.46%

| align="right" | 5.84%

| align="right" | 5.98%

| align="right" | 6.68%

| align="right" | 6.90%

|-

| Swedish

| align="right" | 0.19%

| align="right" | 0.31%

| align="right" | 0.30%

| align="right" | 0.31%

| align="right" | 0.39%

|-

| Other

| align="right" | 0.33%

| align="right" | 0.69%

| align="right" | 1.20%

| align="right" | 3.27%

| align="right" | 5.02%

|-

|}

Citizenship

Only about three percent, 214 persons, were citizens of countries other than Finland in 2022. The largest groups of foreign-citizens are from Russia (39 individuals), Germany (24), France (18), the Netherlands (14), Thailand (13) and Estonia (11).

Politics

thumb|The [[Sámi Parliament of Finland|Sámi Parliament Chamber]]

Results of the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election in Inari:

  • Finns Party 27.9%
  • Social Democratic Party 22.8%
  • Centre Party 16.1%
  • National Coalition Party 15.3%
  • Left Alliance 7.4%
  • Green League 5.3%
  • Swedish People's Party 1.5%
  • Christian Democrats 1.4%
  • Other parties 2.3%

Sites of interest

thumb|[[Sajos, the Sámi Cultural Center in the Inari village]]

  • Inari village
  • Siida, Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre
  • Sajos, Sámi Cultural Center
  • Ivalo village
  • Ivalo Airport
  • Ivalo river
  • Saariselkä holiday resort
  • Urho Kekkonen National Park
  • Lemmenjoki National Park
  • Hammastunturi Wilderness Area
  • Otsamo fell, a popular hiking destination

Notable people

  • Amoc (born 1984), rapper
  • Pauliina Feodoroff (born 1977), Skolt filmmaker
  • Jenni Laiti (born 1981), Sámi artist
  • Matti Morottaja (born 1942), Sámi author and politician
  • Petter Morottaja (born 1982), Sámi author and translator
  • Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi (born 1990), politician
  • Marja-Liisa Olthuis (born 1967), linguist
  • Janne Seurujärvi (born 1975), Sámi politician

See also

  • Utsjoki

References

  • Municipality of Inari – official website