Finnmarksvidda (; ) is

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 ...

's largest

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

, with an area greater than . The plateau lies about above sea level. Approximately 36% of

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 ...

lies on the Finnmarksvidda.

Geography

From

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 ...

in the west to the Varanger Peninsula in the east it stretches for approximately , being at least that wide from north to south, extending into

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, ...

. The southeastern part of the plateau is protected by the Anárjohka National Park. The park opened in 1976. Some circular lakes in Finnmarksvidda may be remnants of collapsed pingos that developed during cold periods of the last

deglaciation Deglaciation is the transition from full glacial conditions during ice ages, to warm interglacials, characterized by global warming and sea level rise due to change in continental ice volume. Thus, it refers to the retreat of a glacier, an ice shee ...

Fauna and flora

The plateau includes extensive

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

woods, pine barrens,

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s, and glacially formed lakes. Finnmarksvidda is situated north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

and is best known as the land of the once

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and their reindeer herds. Their shelters in the

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

are still used in the winter time.

Climate

Finnmarksvidda, located in the interior of the county has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

with the coldest winter temperatures in Norway: the coldest temperature ever recorded was in

Karasjok Karasjok is a Norwegianized version of the Northern Sami name Kárášjohka. Either one may refer to the following places: * Karasjok Municipality or (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; ) (also: ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, ...

on 1 January 1886. The climate 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 ...

(307 m) represents the climate of the plateau. Šihččajávri, 382m, is a weather station by the lake of the same name. It is situated high on the plateau and far inland, approximately from the E45 border crossing with Norway and Finland.

References

{{authority control Landforms of Finnmark Plateaus of Norway Porsanger