Inari

Because Inari is 300 km north of the Arctic Circle, there is Midnight sun from late May to late July and Polar Night from the beginning of December to middle January. The last ice within the lake disappear at the end of May. Even in July, the average day temperature is only about 17°C. Inari municipality is the largest municipality in Finland by area covering 5% of the country, stretching from the Norwegian border in the west to the Norwegian and Russian borders in the east. There are less than 7,000 inhabitants though. The municipality got road connection when the road to Petsamo – connection to the Arctic Sea – was accomplished in 1931.

Four languages are spoken in Inari: Finnish, Northern Sámi, Inari Sami, and Skolt Sami. Inari Sami is the language traditionally used in the surroundings of the lake. Northern Sami is the biggest Sami language, spread with large scale reindeer husbandry and acts as the lingua franca among the Sami people around the whole Nordic. The Skolt Sami people were evacuated from Petsamo (Russian: Pechenga) when Finland lost that area in the World War II, and the people were resettled into the Inari municipality.

Ivalo (40 km south) is the administrative centre of the municipality and the biggest village with some 4,000 inhabitants. Inari is the second (1,000 inhabitants) and houses the Sami parliament, the Sami cultural centre, Finland's National Sami Museum, and the 1 Sami Education Institute (SOGSAKK) a vocational school and a training centre giving education both in Finnish and in the three local Sami languages. SOGSAKK is also one of those few places where anyone can study Sami languages and Sami culture.

The nearest airport is in Ivalo. By car, the easiest way to get here from southern Finland is by car/sleeper train to Rovaniemi. Inari lies along road E75, but it's over 15 hours by bus from Helsinki.

There is one border crossing from Norway in the municipality, in Näätämö, and one from Russia: Raja-Jooseppi, with junction on E75 in Ivalo. Neighbouring Utsjoki has three more from Norway. From Norway, crossing the border anywhere is allowed, except at the border zone to Russia. There is a trail across the border from the backcountry of Kirkenes to Kessi, with road to Nellim.

By bus:

Coaches from or via Rovaniemi pass Inari on their way to Utsjoki, Vadsø, Nordkapp or Kirkenes.