Savukoski is a municipality of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

.

It is located in the province

Provinces of Finland

The state of Finland consisted of six provinces between the years 1997 and 2009. The provincial authority was part of the central government's executive branch, not directly elected. The system was created in 1634, and its makeup was changed drastically in 1997, when the number of the provinces...

 of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 is PD/km2. The municipality is unilingually Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

.

According to a story, the homestead of Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 (Joulupukki

Joulupukki

Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name Joulupukki literally means Christmas Goat or Yule Goat. The Finnish word "pukki" comes from the Swedish "bock" and is an old Scandinavian tradition...

) is located at the Korvatunturi

Korvatunturi

Korvatunturi is a fell in Lapland. It is located within Urho Kekkonen National Park in the municipality of Savukoski. The Finnish name translates to "Ear Fell"....

 Fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 in Savukoski municipality. The Finns believe that Santa Claus lives there. The name Korvatunturi translates into English as "Ear Fell". Finnish children are told that from "Ear Fell" Santa Claus 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 mighty river Kemijoki

Kemijoki

Kemijoki , with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs through Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi.At Rovaniemi the Ounasjoki river merges with Kemijoki....

 runs through it. Forestry and reindeer

Reindeer

The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 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

Urho Kekkonen National Park is a national park in Lapland, Finland. Established in 1983 and covering , it is one of Finland's largest protected areas. It is named after Urho Kekkonen, former President and Prime Minister of Finland....

is also located partly in Savukoski.

External links

• Municipality of Savukoski – Official website
• Korvatunturi – Ear Mountain
• Savukoski – The Home of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus in East Lapland