The municipality has a population of 8,141, (31 October 2024)[3] 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,[2] making it the second largest municipality in Finland in terms of area, right after its neighboring municipality of Inari. The population density is 0.7 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.[7] There is also quite a lot of 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.[8][9] 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".[10]
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]
The statue "A reindeer and a Lapp"
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.
Museum-gallery Alariesto was opened in July 1986. The museum's permanent exhibition displays artist Andreas Alariesto's life and works. It was maintained by Riikka and Andreas Alariesto's Lapinkuvat ("pictures of Lapland") Foundation and the Municipality of Sodankylä. The foundation's main goal was to take care of Alariesto's collected works and to preserve the Sami cultural traditions of the historical Sompio area. In 2020, the foundation was merged with Kauko Sorjonen Foundation.
Sodankylä has a subarctic climate (Koppen: Dfc), with short, mild summers and long, freezing, extremely snowy winters. However global warming has brought more extreme snowfalls, typically an increase. Its extreme northerly location combined with frequent overcast skies leads to very low amounts of sunshine in the winter months; December will average just under two minutes of sunshine daily. Sodankylä experiences polar night between 20 and 23 December and polar day between 31 May and 14 July.[13] The temperature is usually between −19.6 °C (−3.3 °F) and 19.4 °C (66.9 °F), but the all-time temperature range is between −49.5 °C (−57.1 °F) recorded on 28 January 1999 and 32.1 °C (89.8 °F) recorded on 18 July 2018.
Climate data for Sodankylä Tähtelä, elevation: 179 metres or 587 feet, 1991-2020 normals, extremes 1908-present
