River
Kitinen
235 km from source to mouth · Finland.
FinlandFlows into Kemijoki4th longest in Finland
In numbers
Length
235km
Average flow
64m³/s
Basin
7,570km²
Drop
321m
from 237 m to -84 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
235 km of river and 5 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 237 m
- 33 kmPorttipahta Reservoir156 km²
- 102 kmLokka Reservoir322 km²
- 185 kmHietajärvi0.4 km²
- 230 kmSuvanto
- 234 kmLuirotributary
- 235 kmKemijokiat -84 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Lapland, Finland
At the mouth it carries 64 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 39 seconds. It drops from 237 m to -84 m, 1.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 7,570 km², about the size of PR. 4,035 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to July; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 140% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- PelkosenniemiLargest city on its banks · 922 people
- Rovaniemi Airport (RVN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 95 km from the cityCar hire at RVN airport (Rovaniemi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe28 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- JulyThe best months to visit
Kitinen, month by month
Highest water: from May to July
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: July.
From about 11 m³/s in the lowest month to 190 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Kitinen: the basin in numbers
6,708 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 4,035people live in the basin
- 1/km²people per km²
- 259maverage altitude of the basin
- 479mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -1.6°Caverage air temperature
- 21%protected areas
- 7.4%covered by lakes
- 8%permafrost
- 2.8km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 59% Forest
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Kitinen: what you find on the way
- 1Weirs
- 28RapidsNeitikäiskoski, Pikku Neitikäiskoski, Ryssänmarimo and 25 more
- 4Boat ramps
- 2MarinasVenesatama, Kalasatama
- 2River beachesRiesto, Uimaranta
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kitinen in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3lakes on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (3)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Porttipahta Reservoirkm 34156km²
- Lokka Reservoirkm 104 · 12 m deep322km²
- Hietajärvikm 1880.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Kitinen in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
KemijokiFinland550 km560 m³/sTributaries (4)
Also: Luiro, Jeesiöjoki, Sattanen, Orajoki
In the same basin
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Finland300 km160 m³/s101 km awayMuonio River
Sweden230 km160 m³/s169 km awayTorne RiverSweden470 km380 m³/s207 km awayKalix RiverSweden461 km290 m³/s240 km awayIijokiFinland370 km200 m³/s222 km awayOulujokiFinland107 km250 m³/s251 km awayPaatsjoki
Norway385 km210 m³/s305 km awayPite RiverSweden400 km160 m³/s337 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1743887) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit