Ivalo (, , , ) is a village in the municipality of Inari, Lapland,

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, ...

, located on the Ivalo River south of

Lake Inari Lake Inari (, , , , , ) 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 above sea level, and is regulated at the Kaitakoski power plan ...

in 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 ...

. It has a population of 3,998 and a small

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, located 11 kilometres (7 mi) southwest from Ivalo. south of Ivalo is a very popular resort named Saariselkä. The closest border crossing into Russia is about 50 km from Ivalo: the Raja-Jooseppi border station is manned by Finland's authorities.

Geography

The "

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

" is above the horizon from 24 May to 22 July (70 days), and the period with continuous daylight lasts a bit longer. The

polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...

is from 28 November to 9 January (43 days).

History

The village of Kyrö was established in the 1750s by the Finnish settler Henrik (Heikki) Mikonpoika Kyrö, who came from the Tornio valley. Before settling in Inari, he spent some time in

Enontekiö Enontekiö (; ; ; ; ) is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approximately inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedis ...

and

Kittilä Kittilä (, , ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort. It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the Lapland (Finland), Lapland Regions of Finland, region. The municipality ...

. Ivalo was officially a separate village since the mid-19th century, but the name only gained wide usage in the early 20th century. Some people in Inari also knew it as ''Iivalo''. Ivalo started growing after a road leading to Petsamo was built. Kyrö had been fully merged into Ivalo by 1940. Ivalo was severely damaged during the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

(1944–1945) by the retreating German troops led by Generaloberst

Lothar Rendulic Lothar Rendulic (; 23 October 1887 – 17 January 1971)Rudolf Neck, Adam Wandruszka, Isabella Ackerl (ed.) (1980): ''Protokolle des Ministerrates der Ersten Republik, 1918–1938, Abteilung VIII, 20. Mai 1932 bis 25. Juli 1934''. Vienna: Verlag ...

. The village was subsequently extensively rebuilt.

Tourist destination

Many tourists visit this place every year for winter sports (downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, husky and reindeer sledge riding) and for summer activities (trekking and hiking in the Saariselkä fjells, canoeing in Lapland's rivers, mountain biking, panning for gold,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, etc.).

Notable people

* Kati-Claudia Fofonoff (1947–2011), Skolt author and translator *

Anni-Kristiina Juuso Anni-Kristiina Juuso (; born 4 May 1979, in Ivalo, Finland) is a Sámi actress, renowned for her leading female roles in the movies '' The Cuckoo'' and '' The Kautokeino Rebellion''. She received Russia's Best Actress award by both the movie ac ...

(born 1979), actress * Kari Väänänen (born 1953), actor

References

External links

* File:Ivalon keskusta.JPG, The

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

for

Finnish national road 4 Finnish national road 4 ( or ; or ; also known as Lahti Highway (; ) in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area) is a highway in Finland. It is the main route from Helsinki to Northern Finland and a major road link in the country. It runs from Erottaja ...

in downtown Ivalo File:Ivalo Kultahippu.JPG, The restaurant hotel Kultahippu File:2018-07-28 Ivalon kirjasto 02.jpg, Ivalo library File:2018-08 Ivalo orthodox church 3.jpg, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church File:Ivalontuhottuakylaa.jpg, Ivalo in 1945, in the aftermath of the