Can we speak to Santa, please?

By Signe Hansen | Photos: Dreamstime.com

With its snow, mountains and reindeers, Scandinavia perfectly fulfils the criteria for the perfect home – for Santa Claus that is. But where exactly does Santa live? Is it Korvatunturi in Finland, Mora in Sweden, or is his home in Greenland? Scan Magazine set off to investigate.

As we pick up the phone to call the Finnish Santa, we can’t help but wonder: does Santa really have a phone? It turns out that he does (apparently, even Santa needs to call his elves now and then) and he also has a very helpful PR manager. She explains that he does not actually reside in the building known as Santa Claus’ Office in the Arctic Circle; he lives at the foot of the mysterious mountain called Korvatunturi. But as Korvatunturi is very isolated, Santa travels to meet his visitors and collect mail at his office every day; it is a good thing that he does, because every year he receives more than 600,000 annual visitors at Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi.

Well, back to the phone; the PR manager has managed to persuade Santa to give us his very secret phone number, but when we mention the controversy about him, his jolly voice turns a bit sad. “Oh no, we don’t care about that,” he says. “Santa is everywhere. As long as I can bring a smile to a child’s face, geography doesn’t matter.” Well there you go, this Santa is not up for fighting.

Can we speak to Santa, please?

Still, though the Finnish Santa seems very nice, we have to keep digging and next on the list is Santaworld just outside Mora. “Santa Claus actually used to live at the North Pole, and many people still mistakenly believe he is. But because the North Pole was so cold and so far away from the children he loves so much, he moved to Mora,” says Santa’s helper. When we ask if we can talk to Santa, his helper tells us that he is very busy preparing for Christmas. Though this sounds plausible, we still feel a little slighted and let out that we have already talked to the real Santa – in Finland. “Well yes, I thought you might mention that,” his helper quickly replies. “He is one of the biggest helpers that Santa has, he has helpers all over the world.”

Well, the Finnish and Swedish Santa actually seem quite friendly, but maybe they are just teaming up against Greenland’s Santa. However, the Greenland story turns out to be a festive tale with a few ups and downs. For many years, children around the world sent their letters to Santa’s Post Office in Greenland, which had its own postcode (2412) and even the world’s largest red post box. Though the post office has since closed, the giant post box now stands proudly in Uummannaq – a town that has embraced Santa’s legacy with joy (and fittingly, the setting for the beloved Nissebanden Christmas series). So, Santa in Greenland does not have an official home where we can call him (he is actually a little shy and that’s why he chooses to live in distant Greenland); but he is undoubtedly up there somewhere.

Every elf knows there is not only one Santa. So rather than quarrel over who is real, let us join in the Christmas spirit and delight in the magic they bring to children across the world.