Santa Claus departs from Lapland

While not on his yearly trips around the world, Santa lives near his workshop on the Lapland fell of Korvatunturi in northern Finland.

Santa Claus departed his home in Finnish Lapland for his round-the-world gift giving trip on Friday.

As it has since 1965, Finnish public broadcaster Yle shared Santa’s yearly departure with the rest of the world.

The annual videos are also regularly picked up by networks in the European Broadcasting Union as well as in countries like the US and Japan.

Four years ago, Yle News’ podcast All Points North examined how the Santa Claus character became Finnish and a cornerstone of Finnish Lapland’s tourism industry.

In Finland Santa Claus is known as Joulupukki (literally, the ‘Christmas goat’ in English), and he is known to visit children personally in their homes on Christmas Eve.

While not on his yearly trips around the world, Santa lives near his workshop on the Lapland fell of Korvatunturi in northern Finland.