Sodankylä (; ; ; ) 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 , () 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 of which 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 . 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. 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 (). Key sights, events and destinations Sodankylä Local History Museum The Old Church (made 1689 of wood), The New Church (made 1859 of stone) Tankavaara, gold museum, gold village Ilmakkiaapa peatland protection area (35 km north) Urho Kekkonen National Park (Koilliskaira Visitor Centre) Luosto – a hill home to the only open amethyst mine in Europe Hotel Sodankylä and Hotel Bear Inn (Hotelli Karhu) Midnight Sun Film Festival (annually mid-June) Museum-Gallery Alariesto (Andreas Alariesto's life and artwork) Pappilanniemi walking trail Igloo village of Kakslauttanen The old church The old church 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. The statue "A reindeer and a Lapp" Sculptor Ensio Seppänen designed this statue in 1970, located in the center