Finland

Finland (Suomi in Finnish) is the seventh largest country in Europe, with an area of some 337,000 square kilometres. It is located in Northern  Europe, and bounded to the east by Russia, to the north by Norway, to the west by Sweden and the Gulf of Bothnia, and to the south by the Gulf of Finland.  For further information, see the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland. 

The country can be divided into four distinct geographical areas.  

On the southern and western shores, in the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia respectively, lie chains of low-lying islands.  The highest point on the largest of these, in the Aland Islands (Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) only reaches a height of 116 metres above sea level. 

On the mainland, a broad relatively flat, coastal plain occupies the extreme southern and western areas of the country.  The southern plain is separated from Central Finland by a series of low hills called the Salpausselkä Ridges.  These are the terminal morraines of the glaciers that covered the land in the Ice Age.  Tiirismaa, near the city of Lahti, is the highest point on these ridges, and, at 222 metres, makes it the highest point in Southern Finland.

 The Finnish Lake District occupies south-central and central Finland.  This is an extensive area of forest and low hills (all less than 400 metres in height), studded with thousands of lakes of varying sizes – there are some 55,0000 lakes with a diameter of at least 200 metres.

 The north-west and north-east of the country are occupied by upland areas.  In the east a chain of low fells, all less than 500 metres in height, stretch northwards along the Russian frontier.  In the north-east, within the Arctic Circle in Lapland, these fells connect with upland areas which form the eastern flank of the Scandinavian Mountain Chain.  The highest fells here reach over 700 metres in height.  It is in the far north-west of the country that the highest fells are to be found, particularly in the Enontekiö Region.  Here the fells, which are part of the Scandinavian Mountains, reach maximum heights of 1200 to 1300 metres.  To the south, along the Swedish border lie the Pallas Fells which reach a height of over 800 metres.

Finland’s highest point is Halti at 1323.6 metres.  However, this is merely a border marker on the southern flank of Háldečohkka 1331m/c.36m, a minor fell top, the summit of which is in Norway.  In turn, Háldečohkka is a subsidiary summit of the Norwegian fell Ráisduoddarháldi 1365m/c.510m.  The highest point in Finland therefore has no prominence whatsoever.

The most prominent fell in Finland is Taivaskero 809.1 metres, with a prominence of about 516 metres, in the Pallas Fells.  There are fourteen fells in Finland with a height of at least 1000 metres and prominence of at least 100 metres. 

Here are some websites in English, recommended by K-P Arola, regarding hiking in Finland: 

·        http://www.discoveringfinland.com/travel/what-to-do/nature/hiking-areas/

·        http://www.outdoors.fi/DESTINATIONS/NATIONALPARKS/Pages/Default.aspx (information about national parks etc. in Finland)

·        http://www.saariselka.fi/content/fun-and-leisure/hiking-and-excursions?set_language=en (Saariselkä region and UKK National Park   

          information)

·        http://www.everytrail.com/browse.php?activity_id=5&country=FINLAND

Lists downloadable from the bottom of this page are:

• • • 1000m Fells & Tops of Finland - e-booklet (illustrated)

    • 1000m Fells & Tops of Finland - print-booklet (illustrated)