Sodankylä
Template:Infobox Finnish municipality Sodankylä (Inari Sami: Suáđigil, Northern Sami: Soađegilli, Skolt Sami: Suäˊđjel) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of Template:Infobox Finnish municipality/population count (Error: Invalid time.)[1] and covers an area of [convert: invalid number] of which [convert: invalid number] is water.[2] The population density is [convert: invalid number]. The municipality has two official languages: Finnish and Northern Sami.
Since 1986 Sodankylä has been home to the Midnight Sun Film Festival ([Sodankylän elokuvajuhlat] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)).
The Jaeger Brigade of the Finnish Army is located in Sodankylä.
Although Sodankylä and also Soađegilli translate to 'Village of War', the etymology of the name is from a surname rather than the word 'war'.
One of EISCAT's scientific radar receiver stations is located outside Sodankylä, at the site of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. The urban area around the observatory is known as Tähtelä, which translates as "Place of Stars", although the observatory does not look at stars.
Further Sodankylä is home to Luosto, which is a ski and safari resort in the heart of the national forest that specialises in authentic and uncommercialised Husky, Reindeer, Skidoo and Santa excursions.
Sodankylä has an airfield.
Key Sights, Events and Destinations
- The Old Church (made 1689 of wood), The New Church (made 1859 of stone)
- Tankavaara, goldmuseum, goldvilage and 30th Goldpanning world championships (August 6–13, 2006)
- Urho Kekkonen National Park (Koilliskaira Visitor Centre)
- Luosto -home to the only open amethyst mine in Europe, is a ski and safari resort in the heart of the national forest- the original Santa destination.
- Midnight Sun Film Festival (annually mid-June)
Geography
Climate
| Climate data for Sodankylä | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.5 (43.7) |
8.5 (47.3) |
14.6 (58.3) |
26.9 (80.4) |
30.5 (86.9) |
30.9 (87.6) |
28.2 (82.8) |
23.0 (73.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.2 (48.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
30.9 (87.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −9.5 (14.9) |
−8.3 (17.1) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
2.6 (36.7) |
9.6 (49.3) |
16.6 (61.9) |
19.4 (66.9) |
16.1 (61.0) |
9.8 (49.6) |
2.3 (36.1) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−7.9 (17.8) |
3.6 (38.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −19.6 (−3.3) |
−18.2 (−0.8) |
−13 (9) |
−7.4 (18.7) |
0.0 (32.0) |
6.4 (43.5) |
9.1 (48.4) |
6.6 (43.9) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−11.8 (10.8) |
−17.4 (0.7) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −49.5 (−57.1) |
−44.4 (−47.9) |
−42.7 (−44.9) |
−31.6 (−24.9) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−11.4 (11.5) |
−28 (−18) |
−34.5 (−30.1) |
−41 (−42) |
−49.5 (−57.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 35 (1.4) |
29 (1.1) |
29 (1.1) |
28 (1.1) |
35 (1.4) |
57 (2.2) |
63 (2.5) |
61 (2.4) |
47 (1.9) |
50 (2.0) |
40 (1.6) |
35 (1.4) |
507 (20.0) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 54 (21) |
70 (28) |
76 (30) |
71 (28) |
14 (5.5) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2 (0.8) |
16 (6.3) |
34 (13) |
337 (133) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 12 | 57 | 125 | 196 | 240 | 268 | 269 | 183 | 109 | 60 | 22 | 1 | 1,542 |
| Source: Climatological statistics for the normal period 1971–2000[3] | |||||||||||||
Twin towns
Kola, Russia, since 1968
Berlevåg, Norway, since 1971
Norsjö, Sweden, since 1977
Heiligenblut, Austria, since 1979
Gallery
-
Sodankylä New Church -
Sodankylä Old Church
References
External links
- Municipality of Sodankylä – Official website
- Midnight Sun Film Festival
- Tankavaara, goldvillage
- Gold goldmuseum
- Koilliskaira Visitor Centre
- Urho Kekkonen National Park
- The Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory
| Municipalities |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Former municipalities | ||