{{Ethnie
|Nom          = Saami
|Images       = 200px
|légende      = Costumes traditionnels Saami
|Population   = 85 000
|Distribution = Suède, Norvège, Finlande, Russie
|Langues      = same
|Religions    = chamanisme, christianisme
|Apparentés   = 
}}
Le '''peuple Saami''' est un peuple indigène d'une zone qui couvre le nord de la same) d'origine finno-ougrienne.

Ce peuple est le plus souvent nommé ''Lapons'', mais ses membres préfèrent le nom ''Sàmi'' ou ''Saami'', qu'ils utilisent pour se désigner. Le terme ''Lapon'' est considéré comme blessant (à rapprocher du Haut-Allemand ''lapp'', signifiant idiot) ou péjoratif.
thumb|left|200px|Sàpmi

Ils appellent leurs terres ancestrales ''Sápmi''. Les activités traditionnelles des Saami étaient la pêche et l'élevage de norvégien abrite environ la moitié des Saami, un autre groupe important vit en Suède. D'autres groupes plus petits vivent dans le nord de la Finlande et de la Russie, particulièrement dans la péninsule de Kola.

Les Saami ont en Suède, en Norvège et en Finlande (mais pas en Russie) le droit de vote dans les parlements Saami, des organisations gouvernementales mises en place par les gouvernements des trois états scandinaves et qui visent à faire remonter les revendications des communautés saami. Les membres de ces parlements sont démocratiquement élus par les saami eux mêmes. 

== L'Histoire ==
thumb|240px|Famille Saami au début du 
thumb|240px|enfants immigrants de Suède aux USA 
thumb|right|200px|Drapeau Saami 

Les Saami ont habité les régions septentrionales de la E. G. Geijer était un des partisans – est aujourd'hui soutenue par la majorité des historiens. Leur culture est héritée du peuple préhistorique et finno-ougrien Sami. Voir Laponie pour l'histoire antique.

Lapponia, un ouvrage écrit par Johannes Schefferus (1621 - 1679) décrit la culture Saami dans les temps anciens, en laissant entendre que la Suède avait remporté ses succès sur le champ de bataille grâce à la magie Saami. Cet ouvrage, et les rumeurs qu'il fit courir, fût interprété en Suède comme une propagande provenant de l'extérieur (en particulier d'Allemagne) et de grossières calomnies envers l'honneur suédois et sa capacité à faire la guerre. En réponse, un livre paru en latin vers la fin de l'année 1673 et rapidement traduit en français, en anglais, en allemand (puis finalement en 1956 en suédois). Cependant, une version plus récente et adaptée a été publiée peu après aux Pays-Bas et en Allemagne, dans laquelle des chapitres sur les conditions de vie difficiles dans lesquelles vivent les Saami, la topographie et l'environnement de leur milieu ont été remplacés par des histoires de magie et de sorcellerie. Les Saami croient au chamanisme, ce qui les rapproche des mongols.

== La religion ==

La religion Saami partage des éléments avec les autres religions des régions polaires, comme par exemple le culte des ours, les sacrifices, le chamanisme, etc. Les hommes et les femmes ont leurs propres dieux. Elle a été majoritaire jusqu'à l'époque médiévale, où le christianisme s'est imposé (à partir du XI°siècle) pour devenir la religion majoritairement pratiquée vers la fin du XVIII°siècle. Les animaux « blancs » y jouaient un rôle particulièrement important. Le noaide (chamane) possédait une forte influence sur le « sijdda » (village), en tant que conseiller, médecin et personnage religieux. Comme chez les autres populations circumpolaires, le chaman est un intermédiaire entre le monde des hommes et le monde surnaturel. C'est au cours de la transe extatique que le chaman entre en communication avec le monde spirituel peuplé de dieux et de créatures qu'il interroge en vue d'obtenir une information ou la satisfaction d'une requête.

== Les langues sames ==

Le same fait partie des langues finno-ougriennes, liées au finnois. Cependant, en raison du contact prolongé avec les Scandinaves, il y a désormais un nombre important de mots germaniques en same.
Le same est divisée en neuf dialectes, dont certaines ont leur propre langue écrite. Les Saami du sud ne peuvent comprendre les Sami du nord. La plupart des dialectes sont parlés dans plusieurs pays : les frontières linguistiques ne correspondant pas aux frontières politiques. 

== La littérature ==
Pendant des siècles, la littérature saami ne s'est transmise qu'exclusivement par voie orale. Jusqu'à la fin du , on ne peut vraiment trouver que des ouvrages religieux, des dictionnaires et des grammaires. Le petit catéchisme luthérien traduit par le missionnaire Morten Lund est publié en 1728. Le premier romancier à écrire un roman en same est Anders Larsen. Son livre « Bæivve-Algo » (l'Aube) raconte l'histoire d'un jeune garçon pris entre deux cultures : son peuple saami et la société norvégienne. L'histoire de la littérature écrite ne commence vraiment qu'en 1910 lorsque le sami Johan Turi publie « Muittalus sámiid birra », un récit dans lequel il fait la description de la vie de son peuple. Il évoque en particulier le quotidien des éleveurs de rennes et les légendes populaires saami.

Ce même thème est repris par le conteur et romancier suédois d'origine saami Andreas Labba qui dans son premier roman « Anta », (écrit en sâme de Luleå) décrit avec beaucoup de poésie la vie d'une communauté sami encore peu soumise à l'acculturation occidentale. Son deuxième roman « Anta et Marie » (rédigé en suédois), révèle, non sans amertume, la transformation de la société saami par l'arrivée du « progrès » : la nouvelle voie ferrée et ses trains tueurs de rennes, les grands barrages hydroélectriques qui noient les pâturages, l'arrivée des premières motoneiges qui transforme le nomadisme ancestral…

À partir des années 1970, la production littéraire se diversifie et prend son essor. Parmi les auteurs contemporains, on peut citer : Nils Viktor Aslaksen, Rauni Magga Lukkari, John Gustavsen, Ailo Gaup, Paulus Utsi, Erik-Nilsson-Mankok, Per Idivuoma et Annok Sarri-Nordrå.

{{Infobox Ethnic group
| group      = '''Sámi'''
|image=250px|Ellis Island Immigration Station (N.Y. and N.J.), 
|caption= <small> Sami immigrant children to the United States, possibly from Sweden, ca.1906-1914. <small>
| population = c. 100,000
| region1    = 
| pop1       = 60 000
| ref1       = <br/>
| region2    = 
| pop2       = 35 000
| ref2       = 
| region3    = 
| pop3       = 6 400
| ref3       = 
| region4    = 
| pop4       = 2 000
| ref4       = 
| region5    = 
| pop5       = 
| ref5       = 
| region6    = 
| pop6       = 
| ref6       = 
| region7    = 
| pop7       = 
| ref7       = 
| region8    = 
| pop8       = 
| ref8       = 
| region9    = 
| pop9       = 
| ref9       = 
| region10   = 
| pop10      = 
| ref10      = 
| languages  = Southern Sami, Ume Sami, Pite Sami, Lule Sami, Northern Sami, Inari Sami, Skolt Sami, Kildin Sami, Ter Sami
| religions  = Sami religion
| related    = Finns, Estonians 
| footnotes  = 
}}
200px|right|thumb|Sami flag.
The '''Sami people''' are an of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Finno-Ugric.

The cultural assimilation over many years of the Sami people in the four countries makes it difficult to estimate the numbers of Sami. However, the population is estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000. The Norwegian state recognizes any Norwegian as Sami if he or she has one great-grandparent whose home language was Sami, but there is not, and has not been, any registration of the home language spoken by Norwegian people. Roughly half of all Sami live in Norway, but many live in Sweden as well. Finland and Russia are also home to smaller groups located in the far north. The Sami in Russia were forced by the Soviet authorities to relocate to a collective called Lovozero/Lujávri, in the central part of the Kola Peninsula.

Traditionally, the Sami had a variety of livelihoods; fishing on the coast and in the inland, trapping animals for fur, sheep herding, etc. The best known livelihood is reindeer herding, but only a small percentage of the Sami have been mainly reindeer herders over the last centuries. Today, many Sami lead modern lives in the cities inside and outside the traditional Sápmi area, with modern jobs. Some 10% still practice reindeer herding, which for traditional and cultural reasons is reserved for Sami people in some parts of Nordic countries.

==Etymologies==

200px|thumb|right|Map of the Sami people
The Sami are often known in other languages as "Lap", "Lapp", or "Laplanders", however these terms are considered derogatory to the Sami and often used by someone not connected to the culture.  This name was originally used in Norway, Sweden and Finland, and from there the word was exported to all major European languages (English: ''Lapps'', German, Dutch: ''Lappen'', Russian, Ukrainian: ''Loparie'', French: ''Lapons'', Greek: ''Λάπονες'', Italian: ''Lapponi'', Polish: ''Lapończycy'', Spanish: ''Lapones'', Portuguese: ''Lapões''). The widely accepted etymology is the Finnish word ''lape'', which in this case means 'periphery'. Originally it meant any person living from the wilderness, not only the Sami people. In Scandinavian ''lapp'' also means a patch of cloth for mending, and one explanation of the name suggests that the Sami wear patched clothes out of poverty, or a derogatory word for their clothing called a Norse language, but it seems to have been introduced by the Danish historian Acta Lapponica''” (1673), but was also used earlier by Olaus Magnus in his "''Description of the Northern peoples''" (1555). There is another suggestion that it originally meant ''wilds''. An alternative interpretation made by Damião de Góis in 1540 derives Lapland from “the dumb and lazy land”, because the land where no vegetables grow is lazy and does not speak.

Another term for Sami used locally in Northern Norway is ''Finn'' whereas local Finnish speakers are called Roman and Greek works.

Sami refer to themselves as ''Sámit'' (the Samis) or ''Sápmelaš'' (of Sami kin), the word Sámi being inflected into various grammatical forms. It has been proposed that Sami, ''Suomi'' (Finnish for Finland), and ''Häme'' (Finnish for Baltic word ''*ẑeme'' meaning "land".<ref>[http://www.sgr.fi/ct/ct51.html Article on the subject by the Finno-Ugrian Society.]</ref> The Sami institutions &ndash; notably the parliaments, the radio and TV stations, theatres, etc. &ndash; all use the term Sami, also when addressing outsiders in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish or English. In a Sami context, the terms Lapp and Finn &ndash; especially if used by people considered to be well informed &ndash; are easily considered derogatory in Norway and Sweden.

Terminological issues in Finland are somewhat different. Finns living in Finnish Lapland generally call themselves ''lapp'''i'''lainen'', whereas the similar word for the Sami people is ''lapp'''a'''lainen''. It would be politically incorrect ''not'' to call Lapland Finns with that name and similarly incorrect to use the latter name about the Sami people. This might become troublesome for foreign visitors because of the similar lives Finns and Sami people today live in Lapland. “Lappalainen” is also a common family name in Finland. Furthermore, using the term “Finn” about Finns is completely acceptable in Lapland.

==History==

right|thumb|350px|A Sami family in [[Norway around 1900]]

The Sami people have inhabited the northern regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 2500 years. Since the Sami are the earliest of the contemporary ethnic groups represented in the area, they are consequently considered an indigenous population of the area.<ref>See e.g. Ref.: </ref>

===The Origins of the Norwegian ‘Sea Sami’===
====The Black Death====
Up until the introduction of the niches.  The Sami, living in the interiors of the mainland of Scandinavia and on the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands, hunted reindeer or fished for their own livelihood.  The Norwegians, living on the outer fjords were connected to the greater European trade routes, did marginal farming in the Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark counties, and fished for trade in the south.<ref name="autogenerated1">Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 255 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref> The two groups co-existed using two different food resources.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

This social economic balance greatly changed with the introduction of the Black Death in December, 1349 in northern Norway.  The Norwegians, closely connected to the greater European trade routes where the plague traveled through, were decimated at a far higher rate than in the south. Of all the states in the region, Norway suffered the most from this plague.<ref>Sandnes J. Settlement development in the Late Middle Ages (approx. 1300-1540), [in:] S.Gissel et al. (eds.) “Land colonization in the Nordic countries c.1300-1600, Stockholm: 81.</ref>   60-76% of the north Norwegian farms were abandoned following the plague,<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 242-244 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref> while land-rents - another possible measure of the population numbers, dropped down to the level between 28-9%.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 250 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref>   Although the population of northern Norway is sparse compared to southern Europe, the spread of the disease was just as rapid.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 240 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref> The method of movement of the plague-infested flea ''(Venopsylla cheopsis)'' was through wooden barrels holding wheat, rye, or wool from the south, where the fleas could live - even reproduce, for several months at a time.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 256 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref>   The Sami, having a non-wheat or rye diet, living on the interior islands and mainland on reindeer meat, wearing animal skins and furs, and were not as strongly connected to the European trade routes, faired far better from the plague than the Norwegians.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 245 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref>

====The Sami and the North Norwegian fishing industry====
The fishing along the north Norwegian coast, especially in the Lofoten and Vesterallen islands, are quite productive with a variety of fish, and during medieval times it was a major source of income for both the fisherman and the Norwegian monarchy.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 29-34 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref>   With such massive population drops caused by the Black Death, the tax revenues from this industry greatly diminished.  Because of the huge economic profits that could had from these fisheries, the local authorities offered incentives to the Sami - faced with their own population pressures - to settle on the newly vacant farms.<ref>Przemyslaw Urbanczyk, Medieval Arctic Norway, Institute of the History of Material Culture, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1992, 255-256 ISBN 83-900213-0-7</ref>   This started the economic division between the ‘Sea Sami’ ''(sjosamene)'' who fished extensively off the coast, and the ‘Mountain Sami’ ''(fjellsamene, innlandssamene)'' who continued to hunt, and later heard reindeer.  Even as late as the early 1700's, there were many Sami who were still settling on these farms left abandoned from the 1350's.<ref>Kirkebøker, Kvæfjord Parish, Godfjord Botten, 1758. (church record); b.1-2 (1751-1822).</ref><ref>Folketelling av Kvæfjord, 1769; census.</ref>   After many years of continuous migration, these 'Sea Sami' became far more numerous than the original reindeer mountain Sami, who today only make up ten percent of the total Sami population.

====Mountain Sami====

====Post-1500's====
Up to around 1500 the Sami were mainly fishermen and trappers, usually in a combination, leading a semi-nomadic or Norway, Sweden and Russia, the number of reindeer started to decrease. Most Sami then settled along the fjords, on the coast and along the inland waterways to pursue a combination of cattle raising, trapping and fishing. A small minority of the Sami then started to tame the reindeer, becoming the well-known reindeer nomads (often portrayed by outsiders as following the archetypical Sami lifestyle).
thumb|left|Traditional raised Sami storehouse, displayed at Skansen, Stockholm
For long periods of time, the Sami lifestyle thrived because of its adaptation to the Arctic environment. Indeed, throughout the 18th century, as Norwegians of Northern Norway suffered from low fish prices and consequent depopulation, the Sami cultural element was strengthened, since the Sami were independent of supplies from Southern Norway.

However, in the 19th century, Norwegian authorities put the Sami culture under pressure in order to make the Norwegian language and culture universal. A strong economic development of the north also took place, giving Norwegian culture and language status. On the Swedish and Finnish side, the authorities were much less militant in their efforts; however, strong economic development in the north led to a weakening of status and economy for the Sami.

The strongest pressure took place from around 1900 to 1940, when Norway invested considerable money and effort to wipe out Sami culture. Notably, anyone who wanted to buy or lease state lands for agriculture in dislocation in the 1920s, which increased the gap between local Sami groups, something still present today, and sometimes bears the character of an internal Sami ethnic conflict. Another factor was the heavy war destruction in northern Finland and northern Norway in 1944-45, destroying all existing houses or kota, and visible traces of Sami culture. After World War II, the pressure was relaxed somewhat.

The controversy around the construction of the hydro-electric power station in Alta in 1979 brought Sami rights onto the political agenda. In August 1986, the national anthem (Norwegian parliament. This law gives the Sami parliament and the Finnmark Provincial council a joint responsibility of administering the land areas previously considered state property. These areas, 96% of the provincial area, that have always been used primarily by the Sami, now belong officially to the people of the province, Sami or Norwegian, and not to the Norwegian state.

==Culture==
<blockquote>''In wonderful savageness live the nation of the Fennians, and in beastly poverty.''
:— Germania'', 98 CE</blockquote>
To make up for past suppression, the authorities of Norway, Sweden and Finland now make an effort to build up Sami cultural institutions and promote Sami culture and language.
left|150px|thumb|Traditional garb

===Duodji===

Duodji, the Sami handicraft, originates from the time when the Samis were self-supporting nomads, believing therefore that an object should first and foremost serve a purpose rather than being primarily decorative.
right|thumb|[[Marry Ailonieida Somby, a Sami author from Deatnu]]

===Clothing===

===Media and literature===

*There are daily news bulletins in Sami on national TV in all three countries. Children's programs in Sami are also frequently made. There is also radio station in Sami.
*Two weekly newspapers in Sami, ''Min Áigi'' and ''Áššu,'' are published, along with a few magazines.
*There is a Sami theatre, Beaivvaš, in Kautokeino on the Norwegian side, as well as in Kiruna on the Swedish side. Both tour the entire Sami area with drama written by Sami authors or international translations.
*A number of novels and poetry collections are published every year in Sami, occasionally also in other dialects than Northern Sami.

350px|thumb|left|Sami vocalist and musician from [[Gällivare, Sofia Jannok, performing at the Centre Culturel Suédois in Paris, France.]]

===Music===

A characteristic feature of Sami musical tradition is the singing of ''Christian missionaries and priests regarded these as “songs of the Devil”. In recent years, musical instruments frequently accompany joiks.

===Education===
*Education with Sami as the first language is available in all four countries, also outside the Sami area.
*Sami University College is located in Kautokeino. Sami language is studied in several universities in all countries, most notably the University of Tromsø, which considers Sami a mother tongue, not a foreign language.

===Festivals and markets===
*Numerous festivals throughout the Sápmi area celebrate different aspects of the Sami culture. The best known on the Norwegian side is Riddu Riđđu, a music festival in Olmmaivaggi (Manndalen). Among the most festive are the Easter festivals taking place in Kautokeino and Karasjok prior to the springtime reindeer migration to the coast. These festivals combine traditional culture with modern phenomena such as snowmobile races.

===Reindeer husbandry===

thumb|250px|At the Kola Sami museum in [[Lovozero (village)|Lovozero, Russia.]]
Reindeer husbandry has been, and is, an important aspect of Sami culture. During the years of forced assimilation, the areas in which reindeer herding was an important livelihood were among the few where the Sami culture and language survived.

Today, in Norway, reindeer husbandry is legally protected as an exclusive Sami livelihood, such that only persons of Sami descent with a linkage to a reindeer herding family can own, and hence make a living, of reindeer herding. Presently, about 2,800 people are engaged in reindeer herding in Norway.<ref>http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_reindeer.pdf</ref>

==Sami policy==
===Norway===
The Sami have been recognized as an indigenous people in Norway (1990 according to ILO convention 169 as described below), and hence according to international law the Sami people in Norway are entitled special protection and rights. The legal foundation of the Sami policy is:<ref>http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_foundation.pdf</ref>
* Article 110a of the Norwegian Constitution.
* The Sami Act (act of 12 June 1987 No. 56 concerning the Sami Parliament (the Sámediggi) and other legal matters pertaining to the Samis).

The constitutional amendment states: “It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the Sami people to preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life.” This provides a legal and political protection of the Sami language, culture and society. In addition the “amendment implies a legal, political and moral obligation for Norwegian authorities to create an environment conducive to the Samis themselves influencing on the development of the Sami community.” (ibid.).

The Sami Act provides special rights for the Sami people (ibid.):
*  “...the Samis shall have their own national Sami Parliament elected by and amongst the Samis” (Chapter 1–2).
* The Sami people shall decide the area of activity of the Norwegian Sami Parliament.
* The Sami and Norwegian languages have equal standing in Norway (section 15; Chapter 3 contains details with regards to the use of the Sami language).

In addition, the Sami have special right to reindeer husbandry.

The Norwegian Sami parliament also elects 50% of the members to the board of the Finnmark Estate that controls 95% of the land in the county of Finnmark.

Norway has also accepted international conventions, declarations and agreements applicable to the Sami as a minority and indigenous people including:<ref>[http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_norways.pdf ark_engelsk.indd<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* The International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (1966). Article 27 protects minorities, and indigenous peoples, against discrimination: “In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities, shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or use their own language.”
* ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989). The convention states that rights for the indigenous peoples to land and natural resources are recognized as central for their material and cultural survival. In addition indigenous peoples should be entitled to exercise control over, and manage, their own institutions, ways of life and economic development in order to maintain and develop their identities, languages and religions, within the framework of the States in which they live.
* The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965).
* The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). 
* The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979).
* The Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995).
* The Council of Europe’s Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (1992).
* The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).<ref>''GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS DECLARATION ON RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; MAJOR STEP FORWARD’ TOWARDS HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL, SAYS PRESIDENT'', United Nations General Assembuly, Septemer 17, 2007.  Retreived June 7, 2008. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10612.doc.htm</ref>

===Nordic===
On 16 November 2005 in Helsinki, a group of experts, led by former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway Professor Carsten Smith, submitted a proposal for a ''Nordic Sami Convention'' to the annual joint meeting of the Ministers responsible for Sami affairs in Finland, Norway and Sweden and the Presidents of the three Sami Parliaments from the respective countries. This convention recognizes the Sami as one indigenous people residing across national borders in all three countries. A set of minimum standards is proposed for the rights of developing the Sami language, culture, livelihoods and society. The convention has not yet been ratified in the Nordic countries.<ref>http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/eng_nordic_sami_conv.pdf</ref>

==Sápmi==

Sápmi is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people.  Non-Sami and many regional maps have often called this same region ''Lapland'' as there is considerable regional overlap between the two terms.  However ''Lapland'' can be either misleading, offensive, or both, depending on the context and where this word is used to the Sami.  Among the Sami people however, Sápmi is strictly used and acceptable.

Sápmi is located in Northern Europe which includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia and spans four countries of: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

===Area===
There is no official geographic definition for the boundaries of Sápmi. However, the following counties and provinces are usually included:

*Lapland Province in Finland
*Finnmark county in Norway
*Nordland county in Norway
*Nord-Trøndelag county in Norway
*Troms county in Norway
*Murmansk oblast in Russia
*Jämtlands Län county in Sweden
*Norrbottens Län county in Sweden
*Västerbottens Län county in Sweden

The municipalities of Gällivare, Jokkmokk and Arjeplog in Swedish Lappland were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 as a “Laponian Area”.

The Inari as well as a part of the municipality of Sodankylä.

====Important Sami towns====
The following towns and villages have a significant Sami population or host Sami institutions (Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish or Russian name in parenthesis):

* Nordic Sami Research Institute, Sami language board, the Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous People, and International Centre For Reindeer Husbandry. In addition, several Sami media are located in Kautokeino including the Sami language Áššu newspaper, and the DAT Sami publishing house and record company. Kautokeino also hosts the Sami Easter Festival. The Kautokeino rebellion in 1852 is one of the few Sami rebellions against the Norwegian governments oppression against the Sami.

* Kiruna, proposed seat of the Swedish Sami Parliament.

* Norwegian Sami Parliament. Also other important Sami institutions are located in Kárášjohka, including NRK Sami Radio, the Sami Collections museum, the Sami Art Centre, the Sami Specialist Library, Mid-Finnmark legal office, inner Finnmark Child and Youth Psychiatric Policlinic, the Sami Specialist Medical Centre, and the Sami health research institute.<ref>[http://english.karasjok.kommune.no/document.aspx?uid=40&title=Facts Karasjok Kommune - Engelsk - Facts<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In addition the ''Sápmi'' cultural park is in the township, and the Sami language Min Áigi newspaper is published here.

* Gáivuotna (Kåfjord, Troms) is an important center for the Sea-Sami culture. Each summer the Riddu Riđđu festival is held in Gáivuotna. The municipality has a Sami language center, and hosts the Ája Sami Center. The opposition against Sami language and culture revitalization in Gáivuotna was infamous in the late 1990s and included Sami language road signs being shot to pieces repeatedly.<ref> </ref>

* Deatnu (Tana) has a significant Sami population.

* Leavdnja (Lakselv) in Porsáŋgu (Porsanger) municipality is the location of the Finnmark Estate, and the Ságat Sami newspaper. The Finnmarkseiendommen organization owns and manages about 95% of the land in Finnmark, and 50% of its board members are elected by the Norwegian Sami Parliament.

* Unjárga (Nesseby) is an important center for the sea-Sami culture. It is also the site for the Norwegian Parliament, Isak Saba, was born there.

* Snåase (Snåsa) is a center for the Southern Sami language, and the only municipality in Norway where Southern Sami is an official language. The Saemien Sijte southern sami museum is located in Snåase.

* Divtasvuodna (Tysfjord) is a center for the Lule-Sami population. The Árran Lule-Sami center is located here.

* Aarborte (Hattfjelldal ) is a southern sami center with a southern-Sami language school and a Sami culture center.

* Ohcejohka (Utsjoki).
* Iänudâh or Eanodat (Enontekiö).
* Aanaar, Anár, or, Aanar (Inari), seat of the Finnish Sami Parliament
* Arjepluovve (Arjeplog).
* Jiellevárri or Váhčir (Gällivare)
* Johkamohki (Jokkmokk) holds a Sami market held the first weekend every February.
* Giron (Kiruna)
* Lujávri (Lovozero)

===Demographics===
In the geographical area composing Lapland the Sami are a small minority. According to the Swedish Sami parliament the total Sami population is about 70,000. The Sami may be divided into smaller groups either based on the area where they are from, the Sami language (dialect) they speak, their occupation, or the country of residence.

====Division by geography====
Sápmi is traditionally divided into:
* Eastern Sápmi (Kola peninsula, eastern Norway and Finland Sami regions)
* Northern Sápmi (most of Norway and Finland Sami area, northern part of Swedish Sami area)
* Luleå Sápmi (Luleå river valley area)
* Southern Sápmi (southern Sweden and Norway Sami area)

It should also be noted that many Sami now live outside Sápmi, in large cities such as Oslo in Norway.

====Division by language====