Ten facts you didn’t know about Finnish Lapland
Lapland is the northernmost region of Finland. Its capital, Rovaniemi, is the promoted as the “official hometown of Santa Claus”. In winter, the amazing aurora borealis draws countless visitors every year. However, Lapland isn’t just about Santa Claus and northern lights. There are many more cool facts. Here are ten of the most surprising ones. Take a look!
1. Rovaniemi is the largest city in the EU
What is the largest city within EU? Paris? Rome? Berlin? Madrid? London? (oops! London isn’t a part of the EU anymore) None of them! The correct answer is Rovaniemi in northern Finland. The total area of Rovaniemi is more than 8,000 sq km, which is larger than the total area of all the five metropolises mentioned above combined! In such a big area, the total population is only around 60,000, fewer than that of Andorra. This shows how sparsely the population is distributed here.
2. More reindeer than human, but none is wild
The total population in Lapland is around 180,000, while the total number of reindeer is around 200,000. It’s easier to see a reindeer than a person. All the reindeer are domesticated. The owners put an earmark as label when a baby reindeer is born. In case you are involved in a traffic accident with a reindeer, always call the police. Do not just leave, or the owner will not be able to trace the number of reindeer they have.
3. Reindeer can run much faster than you think
Tourists often find reindeer sledding much slower than husky sledding. In Santa Claus Reindeer and other reindeer farms that provide visitors with such experience, it usually takes 15~20 minutes to finish a 1-km ride. However, in a reindeer race, it can take less than a minute for every reindeer. The reindeer race is called “Porocup”. It is held in different places in northern and central Finland in February and March. The racers do not sit in a sled; they stand on skis!
4. Rovaniemi looks like a reindeer on the map
Rovaniemi was destroyed by the German forces with the “scorched-earth tactics” in the Lapland War in 1944. After losing the Winter War (1930~1940), Finland ceded huge portions of its territory to the Soviet Union. To regain the lands, Finland cooperated with Nazi Germany and launched the Continuation War (1941~1944) against the USSR. The Finnish, however, reached an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union on their own. The agreement included expelling the German troops out of the Finnish territory. That infuriated the Germans. As a revenge, the Germans burned 90% of the buildings in downtown Rovaniemi. In 1945, Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto, redesigned the city based on the shape of a reindeer’s head. It was called the “Reindeer Antler Plan”. Take a look at the current map of Rovaniemi. It really resembles a reindeer’s head!
5. Arctic Circle isn’t at 66.5°
The axial tilt of the earth fluctuates, and so does the latitude of the Arctic Circle. It is not always at 66.5° as what we learned in geography class. In Santa Claus Village, you can find that the latitude of the “outdoor Arctic Circle” next to Santa Claus Office is 66°32′35′′, while the indoor one in the Arctic Circle Information is 66°33′07′′. Neither is the current latitude of the Arctic Circle. Its latitude is now around 66°33′48″. It crosses Rovaniemi Airport, about 6 km north of Rovaniemi City Center.
6. In Roveniemi, only polar day; no polar night
The lengths of days and nights change significantly in different seasons at high-latitude areas. Generally, within the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle, there are polar days and polar nights. Roveniemi sits at the edge of the Arctic. From June to July, the sun never sets, and that makes it impossible to see the northern lights. It’s low season for local tourism industry, but tour agencies still provide “midnight sun tours” for visitors. On winter solstice, there are still a little more than 2 hours of sunlight. For example, in 2019 (on 22 Dec.), the sunrise time was 11:08, and the sunset time was 13:22. The total daytime length was around 2 hours and 14 minutes.
7. Eight seasons in Lapland
In high-latitude areas, daytime length and temperature change significantly throughout the year. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are not enough to describe the seasons of Lapland. There are in total eight seasons. They are midwinter, snowy spring, spring, summer, harvest season, autumn, first snowfall, and Christmas. Each season has a unique landscape.
8. Santa Claus Village was once just a wooden house
This cottage is the oldest building in Santa Claus Village. It is located next to the popular restaurant, Santa’s Salmon Place. In 1950, former first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, visited Rovaniemi on behalf of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, now UNICEF). The locals built this wooden house to welcome the distinguished guest. It was believed that she was the first one to send a letter from the Arctic Circle. The recipient was former US President, Harry S. Truman.
9. There are two Santas in Santa Claus Village simultaneously
There are two places where we can meet Santa in Santa Claus Village. The one across from Arctic Circle Information is the official one (address: Joulumaantie 1), and the one inside a souvenir shop called “Christmas House” is the non-official one (address: Tähtikuja 2). It takes about five minute to walk between the two. The official one is on 2F, and the non-official one is on 1F. It’s pretty easy to tell which one we are visiting.
I personally prefer the non-official one. It is less crowded, and that allows us to have more time to interact with Santa Claus. Neither of them can we take a photo with him with our own camera or phone, and it’s quite expensive to buy the photos. In 2019~2020, the cheapest version of the official one (A4-sized paper photo) costs 32 EUR, and the cheapest version of the non-official one (A5-sized paper photo) costs 25 EUR. For electronic files, the official one includes a video of us meeting Santa, and the price starts at 45 EUR. The electronic files (photos only) at the non-official one goes with the paper photos as a set, and the price of the set is 50~100 EUR. The files are stored in a flash drive featuring Christmas House.
10. Sámi is the only indigenous people recognized in the EU
Sámi, which distributed across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Kola Peninsula of Russia, was called “The Lapps” in the past. However, “The Lapps” is now considered pejorative and no longer being used. In 1900~1940, as scientific racism was on the rise, the Sámi were thought to be “not able to adopt to urban life” and “needed to be sterilized”. Their traditions were under serious threat. (More information on Swedish film: Sami Blood)
Now the Sámi culture is highly valued. They have their own flag, anthem, “national” day (06 Feb.), schools that use Sámi Languages, and Sámi Parliaments that don’t make or amend laws but play crucial roles in preserving and promoting Sámi Culture. Only the Russian official today still isn’t friendly to the Sámi. Other three Nordic Countries are now paying a lot of effort in protecting Sámi culture. Sometimes there are even opinions saying that they are going too much. It seems like the decisions always have to be beneficial to the Sámi to be “politically correct”.
In the end, let’s have a quick guess: what is the “national animal” of Finland?
Reindeer? Nope!
I wouldn’t ask this question if reindeer were the answer. It’s the brown bear! Still, reindeer is an important part of the traditional life of those living in Finnish Lapland, especially for the Sámi. They turn reindeer antlers that fall off every year into beautiful handicrafts and home decorations; they use the reindeer skin to keep warm; they put reindeer meat in different kinds of traditional Lappish cuisines. All these are important elements of Finnish Lapland. It’s not a place only with aurora and Santa Claus Village. Take a in-depth tour here, and you can surely find lots of amazing treasures hidden in this wonderland!
