Savukoski ( sme, Suovvaguoika, smn, Suovâkuoškâ, sms, Suõvvkuõškk) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Lapland, Finland Lapland ( fi, Lappi ; se, Lappi; smn, Laapi; sv, Lappland; la, Lapponia, links=no) is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the region of North O ...

. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is , which is the lowest in relation to other Finnish municipalities. Neighbour municipalities are

Pelkosenniemi Pelkosenniemi ( smn, Pelkosnjargâ) is a municipality of Finland. Pelkosenniemi is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Lapland in terms of population. It covers ...

Salla Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The nearby settlement of S ...

and

Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows ne ...

. The municipality is unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. According to Finnish Folklore, the

Korvatunturi Korvatunturi is a fell in Lapland, on the border between Finland and Russia. Its Finnish part is within Urho Kekkonen National Park in the municipality of Savukoski. In Finnish the name ''Korvatunturi'' means "Ear Fell", referring to the mountai ...

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

in Savukoski municipality is the location of

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrel ...

's (

Joulupukki Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name ''joulupukki'' literally means "Christmas goat" or " Yule Goat" in Finnish; the word ''pukki'' comes from the Germanic root ''bock'', which is a cognate of the English "buck", and means "billy- ...

) secret workshop, where toys, trinkets and gifts are made and eventually wrapped by

gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

s. The name Korvatunturi translates into English as "Ear Fell". Finnish children are told that from "Ear Fell" Father Christmas can hear what all the children are saying so he can find out if the children behave and obey their parents (and therefore may receive gifts next Christmas). Savukoski is one of the largest municipalities in Finland, areawise, and the most sparsely settled. The river

Kemijoki Kemijoki ( sv, Kemi älv, se, Giemajohka), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs through Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ounasjoki river ...

runs through it. Forestry and

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

husbandry have traditionally been the main livelihood of the local population. There are ten times more reindeer than people in Savukoski. Nowadays tourism is also getting more important. The

Urho Kekkonen National Park Urho Kekkonen National Park ( fi, Urho Kekkosen kansallispuisto, se, Urho Kekkonen álbmotmeahcci) is a national park in Lapland, Finland, situated in area of municipalities of Savukoski, Sodankylä and Inari. Established in 1983 and coverin ...

is also located partly in Savukoski. A bog region called

Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a bog region in Savukoski, Lapland in Finland. Its name is 35 letters long and is the longest place name in Finland, and also the third longest, if names with spaces or hyphens are included, in Europe. ...

is in Savukoski. It has the longest place name in Finland.

Notable people

Markus Mustajärvi Markus Mustajärvi (born 24 February 1963) is a Finnish politician for the Left Alliance. He has represented Lapland in the Parliament of Finland since 2003.

(born 1963), Finnish politician

References

External links

Municipality of Savukoski
– Official website
Korvatunturi
– Ear Mountain
Savukoski
– The Home of Father Christmas Populated places established in 1916 {{Lapland-geo-stub