Kittilä (Inari Sami: Kittâl, Northern Sami: Gihttel) is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.
It is located in northern Finland north of the Arctic Circle within the area of the former Lappi province. The municipality has a population of 6,315 (31 December 2012) and covers an area of 8,262.67 square kilometres (3,190.23 sq mi) of which 168.71 km (65.14 sq mi) is water. The population density is 0.78 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.0 /sq mi).
The ski resort Levi is situated in Kittilä on Levi Fell (in Finnish “Levitunturi”) (elevation 531 metres (1742 feet)). The resort hosts a slalom event early each season on the Alpine World Cup circuit and offers both downhill and cross-country skiing to the public, as well as snow shoeing, including to the next nearest fell, Kätkätunturi, located west of Levitunturi. Kätkätunturi is 504.6 metres (1,656 ft) high and 7 kilometres (4 mi) long.
On 5 June 2006, it was announced that a Canadian mining corporation Agnico-Eagle Mines will start a new gold mine in Kittilä. Once completed, it will be the biggest gold mine in Europe. Experts say that the deposits hold at least three million ounces of pure gold, by current market price worth 1.8 billion U.S.dollars. The mine is expected to produce an average of 150,000 ounces of gold annually for at least 13 years.
Kittilä Airport is served by Blue1, Finnair & Finncomm Airlines. Monarch Airlines also serves the airport from its various UK bases as part of its programme of ski flights, as well as Christmas specials and flights in support of the When You Wish Upon A Star children’s foundation. Thomas Cook Airlines also fly to Kittilä Airport from Bristol & Gatwick Airport between November to April every year.
Kittilä is also famous for being the location of the lowest recorded temperature in Finnish history: −51.5 °C (−60.7 °F), measured in January 1999.
Read the full article at Wikipedia.