The Arctic Circle – Napapiiri

The Arctic Circle is a line, which circles the poles and with its angular distance from the pole being equal to the ecliptic declination. The ecliptic is the line, where the earth circles the sun and the equator is the line, where the earth spins. The angle between these two lines is the ecliptic declination. As all celestial bodies are interconnected, the location of the Arctic Circle changes continuously either North or South, sometimes by a number of metres in one day.

The first building to be erected at the village in 1950 was in honour of the visit by USA's former First Lady Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt to Rovaniemi. The cabin had to be built in just one week and credit to all involved, was completed on time. But only just! As Mrs Roosevelt stepped into the front door, the cleaner crept out the back door.

At the Arctic Circle is the Santa Claus Village, Santa's Main Post Office, Christmas boutiques with local handicraft, souvenir shops, restaurants, safari company, Christmas exhibition and of course, the
Arctic Circle Information. 

We are situated for instance, 2260 km from London, 6204 km from New York, 2465 km from Paris, 3524 km from Madrid, 1972 km from Amsterdam, Singapore isn't that close either, 9394 km, 7340 km from Tokyo, 6680 km from Peking, 1789 km from Berlin and 2648 km from the North Pole.

As far as it may seem, we are easily reached by plane. The airport is only two km away, by train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Then take the local bus no. 8, which brings you 9 km north to the Arctic Circle. Two km south from us is Santa Park.

Santa Claus really lives deep in Finnish Lapland in Korvatunturi  (Ear Mountain). Daily he visits his village on the Arctic Circle where young and old can meet him in his chamber, have a chat with him and have a picture taken with him.

In the Santa Claus Main Post Office you can take a look at some of the letters sent to Santa. Santa Claus has received about 11,1 million letters since 1950 from 194 countries. At Christmastime Santa can get about 32.000 letters a day. Christmas 2005 Santa received about 550.000 letters. All postcards sent from Arctic Circle area get a special postmark.

Crossing the Arctic Circle is a significant event; it is up to you how you cross it. Then you can purchase the original certificate. Here at the Arctic Circle Information we fill out the certificate by hand with your name, the date, our signature and most important a special Arctic Circle stamp with the date.
 

The first Arctic Circle sign was erected at the end of the 1920s.  Back then it was already a popular place for tourist to stop and take pictures.  Crossing the Arctic Circle became a popular event for visitors to Lapland, as it still is today.