The municipality of Enontekiö has a population of approximately 1,800 people. It is in the outermost northwest part of the country and is between Norway and Sweden. Finland’s highest point, the Halti fell, with a height of 1,324m (4,344ft) is in the municipality. This is the only municipality in Finland that includes part of the Scandinavian mountains.

The first human settlement dates to after the last Ice Age. The oldest traces of settlement can be found along the Ounasjärvi Lake and are dated to around 6,000BC. The Sami population used this area as part of their reindeer migration, but there were no permanent settlements until Christianity came to the region. The first church was built here by the Swedes in the 16^th century. It was a small wooden building in the village of Rounala and it became a central meeting point where the Sami people gathered for religious ceremonies, where travelling merchants sold their wares, and where the Swedish officials held judicial courts.

Since the end of the 17^th century, the reindeer Sami culture spread from Norwegian and Swedish Lapland to Enontekiö. The reindeer Sami had a nomadic way of life and moved with their animals. Enontekiö’s last nomads didn’t settle down until the 1960s. The culture of the reindeer is still preserved, though. The first Finnish people settled in the area in the 17^th century, and due to Finnish immigration and assimilation, a Finnish majority developed in the area.

During the Continuation War, where Finland allied with Germany in fighting against the Soviet Union, Enontekiö was part of the operational part of the region Wehrmacht. When Finland concluded the Moscow Armistice with the Soviet Union on 4 September 1944, the German troops were expelled. The Finnish-German Lapland War broke out. As the Germans left, they enacted the scorched earth tactic and devastated Enontekiö. The last Wehrmact soldiers left on 27 April.

The vegetation is very meagre, due to the extreme northern latitude. The northern border of the natural geographic range of spruce matches the southern border of the municipality. The range of pine ends 20km (12 mi) north of the main village Hetta. Birch trees do grow in the municipality. About 70% of the municipality is under conservation protection.

Due to the harsh climate conditions, there are many animals unknown to the south of Finland. This includes the Norwegian lemming, Arctic fox, snowy owl, Eurasian dotterel, ptarmigan, and ring ouzel. There are lots of small mammals and bird species.

Enontekiö is part of the native settlement area for the Sami, but only 9.2% of the population speak Sami.

The main industries here are tourism and reindeer husbandry.