Lake Inari

Lake Inarijärvi
Location	Inari, Lapland Province
Coordinates	69°00′N 28°00′E / 69.000°N 28.000°E / 69.000; 28.000Coordinates: 69°00′N 28°00′E / 69.000°N 28.000°E / 69.000; 28.000
Primary outflows	Paatsjoki
Basin countries	Finland
Max. length	80 km
Max. width	50 km
Surface area	1,040.28 km2[1]
Average depth	15 m
Max. depth	92 m
Water volume	15.9 km3
Shore length1	3,308 km
Surface elevation	118.7 m[1]
Islands	3318 (Hautuumaasaari, Ukonkivi)
Settlements	Inari
References	[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Inarijärvi (Finnish: Inarijärvi/Inarinjärvi, Northern Sami: Anárjávri, Inari Sami: Aanaarjävri, Skolt Sami: Aanarjäuˊrr, Swedish: Enare träsk, Norwegian: Enaresjøen) is the largest lake in Sápmi and the third-largest lake in Finland. It is located in the northern part of Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle. The lake is 117–119 meters above sea level and it is regulated at the Kaitakoski power plant in Russia. The freezing period normally extends from November to early June.

The most well known islands of the lake are Hautuumaasaari ("Graveyard Island"), which served as a cemetery for ancient Sami people and Ukonkivi ("Ukko's Stone"), a historical sacrifice place of the ancient inhabitants of the area. There are over 3,000 islands in total. Trout, lake salmon, Arctic char, white fish, grayling, perch and pike are found in Lake Inari.

The lake covers 1,040 square kilometres. It empties northwards through the Paatsjoki at the mouth of the Varangerfjord, which is a bay of Barents Sea.

Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials book series, chose this lake to be the home of the witch Serafina Pekkala.

References

External links

Media related to Inarijärvi at Wikimedia Commons

Look up Inari in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.