Welcome to Guovdageaidnu / Kautokeino
Guovdageaidnu / Kautokeino is looking forward to hosting and welcoming you to the Senior Arctic Officials Meeting, November 19-20, 2008. Besides the meeting, to be attended by up to 200 delegates, there will be a number of social and cultural events that will showcase Sami culture, traditional livelihoods such as reindeer husbandry in what is Norway's largest municipality and a focal point for Sami people.
Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino and was established in 1701 when the first church was built here. A theory is that the name refers to the fact that the town is located midway on the old winter route between Muonio in Finland and Alta, on the Northern Norwegian coast. The name would then mean ”guovdu geainnu”, i.e. ”in the middle of the route”. Another theory is that name derives from the river flowing through town, which is the widest river in Sápmi, in reality consisting of a series of lakes. The name would then mean ”govdaeatnu”, i.e. “wide flood”.
Welcome-to-Guovdageaidnu-with-Map.pdf