Anárjohka National Park (Norwegian: Anárjohka nasjonalpark, Northern Sami: Anárjoga álbmotmeahcci) is a national park located in Karasjok Municipality and Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The park was established in 1976 and covers an area of 1,409 square kilometers (544 square miles). It shares a border with Lemmenjoki National Park in Finland. In 2009, a plan was started to increase the park’s size by an additional 624.6 square kilometers (241 square miles), but the plan was stopped in 2015 due to opposition from local communities. Anárjohka National Park is found in the interior of the Finnmarksvidda plateau and includes large areas of birch forests, pine barrens, wetlands, and lakes.

Fauna

Anarjohka National Park has a wide variety of animals. The largest mammals are moose, but they often move to forested areas outside the park during winter. The park provides 12 winter grazing areas for reindeer. Because of this, reindeer are the most common large animals in the park from November to April. Brown bears sleep in their winter dens inside the park, while wolverines visit only occasionally. Red foxes and stoats are the most frequently seen small predators.

Many small rodents live in the park. Lemmings, field voles, root voles, and northern water voles are the most common, but their numbers change greatly each year. The northern red-backed vole, a species found in Siberia, is a typical resident of the park. The area has a consistent population of hares, and several types of shrews also live there.

The park is home to many types of fish. Common species include salmon, trout, three-spined sticklebacks, grayling, vendace, pike, perch, burbot, and minnows. One less common fish is char, which is found only in one lake.

Name

The park is named after the large river Anárjohka, which starts in the park and flows north. The name of the river comes from the Northern Sami language, where "johka" means "river." The meaning of the first part of the name is not known. This same part appears in the name of the Finnish Lake Inari, which translates to "Anárjávri" in Sami.

The national park was previously called "Øvre Anárjohka National Park." The name was changed in 2021. The word "øvre" comes from the Norwegian language and means "upper." Therefore, the old name meant "the upper part of the Anárjohka river."