Alta Municipality

Alta (Norwegian: [ˈɑ̂ɫtɑ] ; Northern Sami: Áltá [ˈaːlːhtaː]; Kven: Alattio; Finnish: Alattio) is the largest populated municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alta. Some of the main villages in the municipality include Kåfjord, Komagfjord, Kvenvik, Langfjordbotn, Leirbotn, Rafsbotn, Talvik, and Tverrelvdalen. The town of Alta and most of the municipality is located just below the 70th latitude and is closer to the North Pole than it is to much of Central Europe and the British Isles. The town is the northernmost settlement of urban significance in the European Economic Area, with municipalities north of Alta being sparsely populated. In spite of its high latitude the local climate is seldom severely cold thanks to Gulf Stream moderation in the prevailing wind, and lower altitudes of the municipality are covered with boreal forests. Due to Norway curving above its Nordic neighbours, Alta is located further east than almost all of Sweden and much of southern Finland. Being at a very high latitude, midnight sun and polar night are present for sizeable parts of the year. The 3,849-square-kilometre (1,486 sq mi) municipality is the 6th largest municipality by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Alta is the 59th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 22,074. The municipality's population density is 5.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (15/sq mi) and its population has increased by 9.5% over the previous 10-year period.