Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Muonio River

230 km from source to mouth · Sweden and Finland.

SwedenFinlandSweden and FinlandFlows into Torne River

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

230km

Average flow

160m³/s

Basin

14,430km²

Drop

171m

from 282 m to 111 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

230 km of river and 31 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

282 m111 m
Sourceat 282 m0 km
Kaarevuopio1.1 km²17 km
Vähänajonjärvi0.7 km²52 km
Sonkajärvi1.0 km²81 km
Kätkäjärvi1.6 km²85 km
Muonionjärvi0.8 km²111 km
Jerisjokitributary114 km
Äkäsjokitributary185 km
Vähä-Airijärvi0.4 km²188 km
Torne Riverat 111 m230 km
050100150200230 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 282 m
  2. 0 kmKokkojärvi0.7 km²
  3. 1 kmSeitavuopio1.1 km²
  4. 3 kmKuonnajärvi0.6 km²
  5. 3 kmVakkojärvi1.9 km²
  6. 5 kmLätäsenotributary
  7. 7 kmKönkämäenotributary
  8. 7 kmMannajärvi1.6 km²
  9. 17 kmKaresuando272 people
  10. 17 kmKaresuando Church
  11. 17 kmKaarevuopio1.1 km²
  12. 27 kmLintujärvi0.5 km²
  13. 34 kmVuontisjärvi0.5 km²
  14. 52 kmVähänajonjärvi0.7 km²
  15. 55 kmPalojoensuu100 people
  16. 56 kmPalojokitributary
  17. 81 kmSonkajärvi1.0 km²
  18. 85 kmKätkäjärvi1.6 km²
  19. 86 kmKätkäsuvanto100 people
  20. 102 kmYlimuonio
  21. 102 kmUtkujärvi3.5 km²
  22. 104 kmNulusjärvi0.8 km²
  23. 107 kmSaivojärvi0.3 km²
  24. 111 kmMuonionjärvi0.8 km²
  25. 113 kmPikkulompolo0.9 km²
  26. 114 kmOustajärvi0.5 km²
  27. 114 kmJerisjokitributary
  28. 185 kmÄkäsjokitributary
  29. 188 kmVähä-Airijärvi0.4 km²
  30. 203 kmKolarinsaari Church
  31. 204 kmKolari3,952 people
  32. 204 kmYlläsjokitributary
  33. 230 kmTorne Riverat 111 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in northern Finland and Sweden, tributary of the Tornio river

At the mouth it carries 165 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 15 seconds. It drops from 282 m to 111 m, 0.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 14,430 km², about the size of ME. 7,249 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to June; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Muonio River, month by month

Highest water: from May to June

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.

19
-16°28 mmJan
19
-14°24 mmFeb
19
-10°25 mmMar
19
-3°26 mmApr
160
4°31 mmMay
140
11°46 mmJun
130
13°63 mmJul
57
11°62 mmAug
64
6°49 mmSep
47
-1°44 mmOct
31
-8°38 mmNov
19
-13°32 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 19 m³/s in the lowest month to 160 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

Car hire at KTT airport (Kittilä)Discover CarsSee 

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

Muonio River: the basin in numbers

12,702 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 7,249people live in the basin
  • 1/km²people per km²
  • 366maverage altitude of the basin
  • 482mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • -2.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 23%protected areas
  • 2.8%covered by lakes
  • 14%permafrost

What covers the basin

  • 60% 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

Muonio River: what you find on the way

  • 1Dams
  • 11Boat rampsVähäniva, Jerisjoki paddling routes entry point and 9 more
  • 2Ferry piersIsosaari, Kuttainen
  • 1Marinas
  • 3River beachesVuontisjärvi badplats, Pekosen ranta, Kolarinsaaren uimaranta

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Muonio River 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.

  • 18lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 4mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (18)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Seitavuopiokm 11.1km²
  2. Vakkojärvikm 31.9km²
  3. Mannajärvikm 71.6km²
  4. Kaarevuopiokm 171.1km²
  5. Sonkajärvikm 791.0km²
  6. Kätkäjärvikm 841.6km²
  7. Utkujärvikm 100 · 11 m deep3.5km²
  8. Vähä-Airijärvikm 1840.4km²

10 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (4)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Outavaara7.4 km away
  2. Sakkaravaara8.2 km away
  3. Kuolbanoaivi9.7 km away
  4. Koihkalanvaara11 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Muonio River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Muonio River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth15 km across

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

Muonio River in pictures

Muonio River (Muonio älv, Muonionjoki), border between Sweden and Finland - panoramio (1)
Heikki Immonen · CC BY 3.0
Muonio River (Muonio älv, Muonionjoki), border between Sweden and Finland - panoramio
Heikki Immonen · CC BY 3.0
Tornio ^ Muonio River - panoramio
ATeeripalo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ice road over Muoniojoki
Grldz · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Torne RiverSwedenSweden470 km380 m³/s

Tributaries (12)

Also: Könkämäeno, Lätäseno, Äkäsjoki, Ylläsjoki, Palojoki, Jerisjoki, Hietajoki, Nunasjoki, Pakajoki, Kangosjoki, Parkajoki, Äijäjoki

Nearby

Rivers nearby

KemijokiFinlandFinland550 km560 m³/s159 km awayOunasjokiFinlandFinland300 km160 m³/s120 km awayKalix RiverSwedenSweden461 km290 m³/s145 km awayKitinenFinlandFinland235 km64 m³/s169 km awayPite RiverSwedenSweden400 km160 m³/s223 km awayIijokiFinlandFinland370 km200 m³/s220 km awayOulujokiFinlandFinland107 km250 m³/s254 km awaySkellefte RiverSwedenSweden410 km160 m³/s298 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q837208) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit