Did you know that Santa Claus lives in Finland?

Far away in a magical town in the Arctic Circle exists the magical Santa Claus Village in Lapland, Finland. At
the beginning of the last century, Santa Claus announced to the world that Rovaniemi is his official hometown. Rovaniemi is the capital and commercial center of Finland's northernmost province of Lapland. The Arctic Circle is a line visible on the map, north of which the sun can be seen above the horizon even at midnight during the summertime.  According to the locals, during midwinter, light is provided by the moon and stars in addition to the magical Northern Lights and clean, bright cover of glistening snow. It is said that the Arctic Circle is also known as the border where “regular time” changes into the “magic time” of elves and reindeer.

Finland is the northernmost country in the world after Iceland and the fifth largest country in Europe in terms of area.  Finland has Sweden to the west, the tip of Norway in the north, a long border with Russia to the east, and Estonia to the south, across the Gulf of Finland.  Its official languages are Finnish and Swedish. Finnish is spoken by most of the population, while Swedish is spoken as a first language by some 5 % of the Finns. In Lapland, the Sami language is spoken by some 1800 indigenous Sami people (including Santa’s elves).  The Finnish language belongs to Fenno-Ugrian languages and is related to Estonian and Hungarian. 

According to the locals, over a hundred years ago, some folks found out that Santa Clause lived somewhere in Korvatunturi  (meaning Ear Mountain in Finnish). This special place is about 485 meters high and called “Ear Mountain” because of the three large ears positioned on the summit.  It is said that these “ears” function like satellites triangulating and hearing all the dreams and wishes of adults and children across the world. This is the place where the wishes are received and sent on to Santa Claus and his workshop (managed by elves). 

As more people began hearing about this place, people began exploring the region in hopes of meeting Santa.  While Santa was happy to greet visitors who may have stumbled upon his private residence and workshop, he also wanted to safeguard his secret magical place.  So his elves created his “official” home in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, called the Santa Claus Village. This village serves has Santa’s place to meet, greet and enjoy Christmas with visitors around the world.  

See for yourself - the live-cam of Santa's Village 

And in case you are wondering, Yes, Santa Claus is multilingual!

Read More Language Fun Facts

Enjoy Language Translations for Real Life Blog
Discover our International Translation Agency and Localization Services

If you like this Fun Fact please share now! Thanks