Country Finland Area 8,262.67 km2 | Language spoken Finnish Region Lapland | |
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Akaskero dog sled tour kittila finland 2014
Kittilä (Inari Sami: Kittâl, Northern Sami: Gihttel) is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.
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Map of Kittilä
It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland region. The municipality has a population of 6,386 (31 March 2016) and covers an area of 8,094.25 square kilometres (3,125.21 sq mi) of which 168.71 km2 (65.14 sq mi) is water. The population density is 0.79 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.0/sq mi).
The ski resort Levi is situated in Kittilä on Levi Fell (in Finnish "Levitunturi") (elevation 531 metres (1742 feet)). The resort hosts a slalom event early each season on the Alpine World Cup circuit and offers both downhill and cross-country skiing to the public, as well as snow shoeing, including to the next nearest fell, Kätkätunturi, located west of Levitunturi. Kätkätunturi is 504.6 metres (1,656 ft) high and 7 kilometres (4 mi) long.
On 5 June 2006, it was announced that a Canadian mining corporation Agnico-Eagle Mines will start a new gold mine in Kittilä. Once completed, it will be the biggest gold mine in Europe. Experts say that the deposits hold at least three million ounces of gold, by current market price worth 1.8 billion U.S.dollars. The mine is expected to produce an average of 150,000 ounces of gold annually for at least 13 years.
Kittilä Airport is served by Blue1, Finnair & Finncomm Airlines. Thomson Airways also serves the airport from various UK bases as part of their programme of ski flights, as well as Christmas specials and flights in support of the When You Wish Upon A Star children's foundation. Thomas Cook Airlines also fly to Kittilä Airport from Bristol & Gatwick Airport between November to April every year.
Kittilä is also famous for being the location of the lowest recorded temperature in Finnish history: −51.5 °C (−60.7 °F), measured in January 1999 in Pokka. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 29 May to 16 July, and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer, polar night from 14 December to 29 December.