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Sodankylä

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Sodankylä

Sodankylä (Finnish: [ˈsodɑŋˌkylæ]; Northern Sami: Soađegilli [ˈso̯ɑðeˌkilːiː]; Inari Sami: Suáđigil; Skolt Sami: Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 (E63) and along Highway 4 (E75). The Kitinen River flows near the center of Sodankylä. Its neighbouring municipalities are Inari, Kemijärvi, Kittilä, Pelkosenniemi, Rovaniemi, and Savukoski. The municipality has two official languages: Finnish and Northern Sami.

The municipality has a population of 8,095, (31 December 2025) which makes it the fourth largest municipality in Lapland after Rovaniemi, Tornio and Kemi, and at the same time the largest municipality in population that does not use the title of city or town. It covers an area of 12,415.50 square kilometres (4,793.65 sq mi) of which 718.65 km2 (277.47 sq mi) is water, making it the second largest municipality in Finland in terms of area, right after its neighboring municipality of Inari. The population density is 0.69 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.8/sq mi).

Sodankylä has an airfield. Also, one of EISCAT's scientific radar receiver stations is located outside Sodankylä, at the site of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. The urban area around the observatory is known as "Tähtelä", which translates as "Place of Stars", although the observatory does not observe stars. The Jaeger Brigade of the Finnish Army is also located in Sodankylä. There is also much mining in Sodankylä, as the Pahtavaara mine (Pahtavaaran kaivos), which was opened in 1996 and focused on gold, and the Kevitsa mine (Kevitsan kaivos), which started commercial nickel mining production in 2012, operates in the municipality's territory. Although the name "Sodankylä" and (also "Soađegilli") directly translate to "Village of War", the etymology of the name is from a surname Sova rather than the word "war".

Since 1986, Sodankylä has been home to the Midnight Sun Film Festival (Sodankylän elokuvajuhlat).

The old church of Sodankylä is one of the oldest churches in Lapland. The church was built in 1689 for the people of Middle Lapland. It was restored in 1926, and the shingles and the boarding were re-done between 1991 and 1995 by the National Board of Antiquities and Historical Monuments. The church is still open at summer time.[citation needed]

Sculptor Ensio Seppänen designed this statue in 1970, located in the center of Sodankylä. The bronze statue presents reindeer husbandry, which still is one of the most important trades in Sodankylä.

The International Gold Museum of Tankavaara presents the history of Finnish gold, as well as the history of the world's major gold rushes. A display called Golden world, tells the story of gold in more than 20 countries. The outdoor museum is housed within several historic buildings and the courtyard is decorated with a large bronze statue of a gold prospector, by the artist professor Ensio Seppänen. The museum's stone and mineral collection has more than 2500 samples on display from around the world.

Andreas Alariesto (1900-1986) was a painter from Sodankylä.

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