SáPMI (AREA)

'Sápmi'

Sami flag Norway Sweden Finland Russia (In Detail)
Location Lapland
National anthem	''Sámi soga lávlla''
Languages	Sami languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian
Area	ca. 388,350 km²; (150,000 sq. mi)
Population  - Sami  - Kvens  - Finns  - Norwegians  - Russians  - Swedes  - Total	About 70,000 About 10,000 About 185,000 ? ? ? 2, 317,159
Independence	None¹
Time zone	UTC +1 to +3
¹ Integrated parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia respectively, but with varying degrees of autonomy for the Sami population.

'Sápmi' (also known as ''Sapmi'', ''Sameland'', ''Saamiland'' and even ''Lapland'') is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people.
Sápmi is located in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia. It spans over four countries: Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. With the fall of the Soviet Union and increasing internationalization, co-operation across borders is becoming more important and existing county and national borders less important both for the Sami aboriginal population and the non-Sami population. The majority of the population of this region is non-Sami. The Sami make up only a small minority.

Contents

Name

Area

Administrative divisions

Climate

Trivia

See also

References

Name

Main articles: Origin of the name Finn

The common English spelling for the region is ''Lapland''. But in official Sami contexts the Northern Sami word ''Sápmi'' is often used, also in English. In Norway and Sweden the region may also be called Sameland or Samiland.
In historical texts the Swedish name "Lappland", the Swedish name Lappmarken, the Norwegian name ''Finnmark'',^[1] and the Sami Sabme have also been used. Finnmark is based on the same Germanic word "finn" which today is used about Finns and in earlier times also about the Sami people. Sabme is the old spelling for Sápmi.
Many provinces, counties and place names in the region carry "Lapp" or "Finn" based names. Examples include the Finnish Lapland Province, Swedish Lapland (not in administrative usage anymore), and Finnmark county in Norway. The present-day Finnmark is sometimes titled as the "Norwegian Lapland", especially by the travel industry.^[2] The Russian language uses the ''Лапландия'' ("Laplandia") form.
Finns living in the Lapland Province, covering an area much larger than the Finnish Sami area, use the name ''Lappi'' for the land. This name is also used for the Swedish Lapland. Noteworthy is that in Finland the official Sami name for the province is also ''Lappi''.^[3] The word ''Lappi-'' appears as a common component of place-names throughout central and southern Finland as well; in many cases it probably refers to earlier Sami presence, even though in some cases the underlying meaning may be merely 'periphery' or 'outlying district'. The northernmost part of the province where the Sami people are the most numerous, is officially called ''Saamelaisten kotiseutualue'' (Sami Domicile Area) and protected by special minority laws.

Area

The area covered by Sápmi lies mostly north of the Arctic Circle. The western portion is an area of fjords, deep valleys, glaciers, and mountains, the highest point being Mount Kebnekaise (2,111 m/6,926 ft), in Swedish Lapland. Farther east, the terrain is that of a low plateau, containing many marshes and lakes, the largest and most important of which is Lake Inari, in Finnish Lapland. The extreme eastern section lies within the tundra region.

Administrative divisions

Sápmi spans four countries, where the main territories lie in the following counties or provinces.

★ Sami Domicile Area in the Lapland Province in Finland

★ Finnmark - a county of Norway

★ Nordland - a county of Norway

★ Nord-Trøndelag - a county of Norway

★ Troms - a county of Norway

★ Murmansk - an oblast of Russia

★ Jämtlands Län - a county of Sweden

★ Norrbottens Län - a county of Sweden

★ Västerbottens Län - a county of Sweden

Climate

The climate is subarctic and vegetation is sparse, except in the densely forested southern portion. The mountainous west coast has significantly milder winters and more precipitation than the large areas east of the mountain chain. Sápmi contains valuable mineral deposits, particularly iron ore in Sweden, copper in Norway, and nickel and apatite in Russia. Reindeer, wolf, bear, and sea and land birds are the main forms of animal life. Sea and river fisheries abound in the region. Steamers are operated on some of the lakes, and many ports are ice-free throughout the year. All ports along the Norwegian Sea in the west and the Barents Sea in the north east to Murmansk are ice-free all year. The Gulf of Bothnia usually freezes over in winter.

Trivia

★ It is also said to be the home of Father Christmas (also known as Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus). The Sápmi location in which he is supposed to live is Korvatunturi, Finland.

See also

★ Laponia (historical province) - a historical province of Sweden and Finland

★ Laponian area - a UNESCO World Heritage site protecting the Sami homelands in Sweden

★ Barents Region

★ Laestadian

★ Lapland War

★ Cuisine of Lapland

References

★ A Norwegian Government report

★ Swedish sami parliament web page
1. Egil's Saga, Chapter XIV
2. Presentation of Finnmark by Norway's Ministry of Trade and Industry in their official travel guide to Norway.
3. Official pages of the Province of Lapland in Sami.