Altaelva (; ; ) is the third-longest river in

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The river begins in the mountains and lakes in

Kautokeino Municipality Kautokeino (; ; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Kautokeino (village), village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villag ...

, near the border with

county and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, just south of Reisa National Park. The long river then runs northward into

Alta Municipality Alta (; ; ; ) is the most populated List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Alta (town), town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the ...

where it flows out into the Altafjorden in the town of Alta. The river has carved out Sautso, one of the largest

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

s in Europe on its way from the high

Finnmarksvidda Finnmarksvidda (; ) is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than . The plateau lies about above sea level. Approximately 36% of Finnmark lies on the Finnmarksvidda. Geography From Alta Municipality in the west to the Varanger Peni ...

plateau down to the sea. The villages of

Kautokeino Kautokeino () may refer to: Places *Kautokeino Municipality (also known as: ), a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Kautokeino (village) , , or is the administrative centre of Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The vill ...

and Masi are located along the river, in addition to the town of Alta. During the 1970s and 1980s, the river was the site of the Alta controversy regarding the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant. The Alta power station was eventually built in 1987, creating the lake Virdnejávri on the river. The river is one of the best

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

rivers in Norway, known for its large-sized salmon. In older days, salmon up to were recorded, and still fish up to are caught.http://www.nrk.no/24 kg salmon caught on fishing rod in Alta river July 2011
/ref> In 2011, 1,082 salmon ( or heavier) were caught on the river.

Name

The ''Altaelva'' literally means the "Alta River" in English. The

Northern Sami language Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

version of the name is and the Kven language version of the name is . The part of the river that is upstream (south) of the Alta dam is also called ''Kautokeinoelva'', meaning the "Kautokeino River", since that part of the river lies in Kautokeino. That part of the river is also known as or in the Northern Sami language.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Finnmark Alta, Norway Kautokeino Rivers of Norway