Country Norway County Finnmark Municipality Kautokeino Area 170 ha | Region Northern Norway District Vest-Finnmark Elevation 319 m (1,047 ft) Population 1,386 (2013) | |
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Guovdageaidnu (Northern Sami) or Kautokeino (Norwegian) is the administrative centre of Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located along the river Kautokeinoelva, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of the village of Masi and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Finland–Norway border.
The 1.7-square-kilometre (420-acre) village has a population (2013) of 1,386, which gives the village a population density of 815 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,110/sq mi) and makes it the largest urban area in the municipality. The village is the site of Kautokeino Church.
The Norwegian National Road 93 runs through the village on its way from the town of Alta to the Finland-Norway border in the south. The small Kautokeino Airport lies just to the north of the village.
Sámi University College is located in the village.
History
In 1852, the village was the site of the Kautokeino rebellion.
From 1882 to 1883 Sophus Tromholt ran a Northern Lights observatory here "as a part of the first international polar year. He did not succeed in photographic registration of the Northern Lights, but used the camera to photograph landscapes, buildings and people. He was the first to photograph Kautokeino's Sami as character portraits with full names, not as tourist props or race examples. The Tromholt Collection became part of Unesco's Norwegian document heritage register in" 2012, according to a display integrated with the facade of Stein Rokkan Building at the University of Bergen.