Utsjoki

The municipality is very sparsely populated, with large wilderness areas. Virtually all the population have their homes in the valleys of river Teno and river Utsjoki and therefore most of the municipality is uninhabited, used as reindeer pasture and foraging and hunting grounds. Actually the population is concentrated into three villages: Utsjoki, 1 Karigasniemi and 2 Nuorgam. The rest of the villages you see on the map are just groups of a few houses, perhaps home to a few families.

About half of the population is Sámi; Utsjoki is the only municipality in Finland having Sámi speaking majority! Reindeer husbandry is important culturally and economically, but more traditionally people have lived from fishing salmon. Nowadays the border trade with Norway is the most important source of income, as most things are cheaper in Finland than in Norway. Social ties across the border are common and many families have close relatives in Norway.

3 Giisá village house, Utsjoentie 9, ☏ +358 40-822-8889, utsjokisuun.kylayhdistys@gmail.com. Tourist information, fishing permits, café and local handicrafts. Free Wi-Fi. (updated Aug 2019)

4 Áilegas centre, Utsjoentie 46 c, ☏ +358 40-667-2229. Culture centre, with exhibitions, courses etc. Also the tourist office and the Metsähallitus information point. (updated Jun 2017)

Tourist information, ☏ +358 40-181-0263. (updated Jun 2017)

The normal way to get to Utsjoki is using the roads; either driving or travelling with the bus. Snowmobile routes and hiking trails provide alternatives for the more adventurous. Remember that distances are huge.

The European routes E6 and E75 meet across the border in Norway. The former travels through Norway all the way from Halden in the south to Kirkenes in the east, the latter runs through Finland via Rovaniemi, Ivalo and Inari to Utsjoki and across the bridge to Norway.

There are daily coaches from Rovaniemi via Ivalo, Kaamanen, Utsjoki and Nuorgam to Tana Bru (and Vadsø in summer). A one-way bus ticket to Utsjoki village costs about €30 from Ivalo and €83 from Rovaniemi. See timetables by Matkahuolto.

There are also daily minibuses (line 120) from Alta, Karasjok and Varangerbotn to Roavvegieddi, located about 1 km from the centre of Utsjoki on the Norwegian side (check if it must be prebooked, timetables by Snelandia).

By plane:

The nearest airports are Ivalo ('IVL IATA; 170 km), Kittilä (KTT IATA; 320 km) and Rovaniemi (RVN IATA; 450 km) in Finland, and Lakselv (LKL IATA; 190 km) and Kirkenes (' IATA; 190 km) in Norway. Ivalo has daily connections from Helsinki.