The river Altaelva has carved out Sautso

Sautso

Sautso is a canyon in the river Altaelva in Finnmark in northern Norway. It is around 10 kilometers long and 300 - 420 meters deep, and is the largest canyon of Northern Europe. The Alta Power Station is situated at the upstream end of Sautso....

, one of the largest canyon

Canyon

A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

s in Europe on its way from the High Plateau of Finnmarksvidda

Finnmarksvidda

Finnmarksvidda or the Finnmark plateau; Finnmark highland, is Norway's largest plateau, with an area greater than 22,000 km². It lies at 300–500 meters above sea level...

 down to the Altafjord

Altafjord

Altafjord is a fjord in the municipality Alta in Finnmark county, Norway, and is about 38 kilometres long. In the inner southern part of the fjord, near the town of Alta, is the outlet of the 200 kilometre long river Altaelva...

. It lies in the municipality of Alta

Alta, Norway

-Birdlife:For those interested in bird watching, the river outlet, known locally as Altaosen is well worth a visit. This tidal area is used as a stopover for many wetland species.-Transportation:...

 in Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 county, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. During the 1970s and 80s, the river was the site of a controversy regarding the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the Alta controversy

Alta controversy

The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway.-Key events:...

.

The river is one of the best salmon rivers in Norway, known for its large-sized salmon. In older days, salmon up to 33 kg were recorded, and still fish up to 24 kg are caught