Savukoski

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Savukoski (Inari Sami: Suovâkuoškâ, Northern Sami: Suovvaguoika) is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of 1,385 (2003) and covers an area of 6,470.65 km² of which 49.27 km² is water. The population density is 0.2 inhabitants per km².

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

The homestead of Santa Claus (Joulupukki) is located at the Korvatunturi Fell 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 runs through it. Forestry and reindeer 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 is also located in Savukoski.