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Muonio
Muonio (Finnish) Muoná (Northern Sami) | |
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Municipality | |
Muonion kunta (Finnish) Muonio kommun (Swedish) | |
Coordinates: 67°57.5′N 023°41′E / 67.9583°N 23.683°E | |
Country | Finland |
Region | Lapland |
Sub-region | Fell Lapland |
Charter | 1868 |
Government | |
• Municipal manager | Laura Enbuska-Mäki |
Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 2,039.97 km2 (787.64 sq mi) |
• Land | 1,904.05 km2 (735.16 sq mi) |
• Water | 133.91 km2 (51.70 sq mi) |
• Rank | 31st largest in Finland |
Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 2,325 |
• Rank | 243rd largest in Finland |
• Density | 1.22/km2 (3.2/sq mi) |
Population by native language | |
• Finnish | 94.5% (official) |
• Swedish | 0.5% |
• Sami | 0.4% |
• Others | 4.6% |
Population by age | |
• 0 to 14 | 14.9% |
• 15 to 64 | 56.7% |
• 65 or older | 28.3% |
Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
Website | www.muonio.fi |
Muonio (previously called Muonionniska, Northern Sami: Muoná) is a municipality of Finland. The town is located in far northern Finland above the Arctic Circle on the country's western border, within the area of the former Lappi (Lapland) province.[5] The municipality has a population of 2,325 (31 December 2023)[2] and covers an area of 2,039.97 square kilometres (787.64 sq mi) of which 133.91 km2 (51.70 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 1.22 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.2/sq mi).
The next closest Finnish municipalities are Enontekiö, Kittilä, and Kolari; and to the west is Sweden's Pajala. On the south side of town, a road bridge crosses the Muonio River, linking Muonio to northern Norrbotten County, Sweden. Muonio is good base for exploring the many things to do in the area,[6] and is on the E8 highway which goes north to Kilpisjärvi.[7] The municipality is unilingually Finnish, unlike many towns on the Finland–Sweden border.
Muonio is known as the municipality with the longest snow season in Finland. For that reason its vocational college has a top ski class that attracts aspiring cross-country ski champions from all over Finland. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 27 May to 17 July (52 days), and the period with continuous daylight is during this time. The period of continuous night, polar night, lasts from 10 December to 2 January (24 days).