- published: 24 Aug 2006
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Sodankylä (Inari Sami: Suáđigil, Northern Sami: Soađegilli, Skolt Sami: Suäˊđjel) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of 8,809 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 12,415.46 square kilometres (4,793.64 sq mi) of which 718.65 km2 (277.47 sq mi) is water. The population density is 0.75 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.9 /sq mi). The municipality has two official languages: Finnish and Northern Sami.
Since 1986 Sodankylä has been home to the Midnight Sun Film Festival (Sodankylän elokuvajuhlat).
The Jaeger Brigade of the Finnish Army is located in Sodankylä.
Although Sodankylä and also Soađegilli translate to 'Village of War', the etymology of the name is from a surname rather than the word 'war'.
One of EISCAT's scientific radar receiver stations is located outside Sodankylä, at the site of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory. The urban area around the observatory is known as Tähtelä, which translates as "Place of Stars", although the observatory does not look at stars.