Every year, millions of letters to Santa Claus are sent to the North Pole, even though his official hometown is Rovaniemi in Finland, right by the Arctic Circle. In Latvia, too, 11% of residents believe that Santa lives at the North Pole. This Christmas, the Finnish postal company Posti, the parent company of SmartPosti, is encouraging people around the world to use the correct address. In Latvia, 67% of residents know where Santa really lives.
For many people, Santa Claus is associated with the North Pole, yet Rovaniemi is the only city in the world that has been officially granted the status of Santa Claus’ hometown. Earlier this year, the European Union Intellectual Property Office also confirmed the validity of the city’s registered trademark “The Official Hometown of Santa Claus”.
Finnish postal company Posti is taking another step to clear up the misunderstanding. The company, which operates Santa Claus’ Main Post Office at the Arctic Circle, is launching a campaign to solve what it calls “the world’s biggest address mix-up”, the fact that millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus are still sent to the North Pole. As part of the campaign, special Santa letterbox points will be set up in several locations, giving people the chance to send their letters directly to the Arctic Circle.
SmartPosti’s survey shows that 11% of Latvian respondents believe Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, 2% think Greenland, another 2% say Rūķupe, and 19% have no idea where he lives. Still, most respondents know where Santa’s main office is: 67% named the correct location.
The “North Pole Redirect” initiative will help every letter reach its addressee
Posti’s campaign is aimed in particular at countries where the idea of the North Pole as Santa’s home is deeply rooted, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. This holiday season, special Santa letterboxes will be placed in London, New York and Toronto, and all letters posted in them will be delivered to Santa Claus’ Main Post Office before Christmas.
Posti is also inviting postal operators in other countries to forward letters addressed to Santa at the North Pole to the Arctic Circle in Finland. Postal operators in some countries already do this. For example, Malta’s postal company MaltaPost sets up a special letterbox every Christmas and forwards thousands of letters to Finland.
Posti believes that every letter addressed to Santa Claus is more than an ordinary piece of mail: it is part of a tradition that is loved and cherished around the world. “People write to Santa because they want to be heard. Their hopes and wishes matter to us. By our estimates, millions of letters addressed to Santa are sent to the wrong address every year, and we don’t want a single wish to get lost along the way. That’s why this Christmas we are helping even more letters reach Santa Claus,” says Jenni Ihatsu, Vice President of Brand and Marketing at Posti.
A Christmas tradition that unites the world
Santa Claus’ Main Post Office is not only a popular Christmas attraction for tourists, but also an official branch of Posti that operates all year round. Six postal elves work there day to day, and during the busiest Christmas period the team grows to about 20. The post office receives around 500,000 letters a year, and in the busiest weeks of the holiday season it can receive as many as 30,000 letters in a single day.
Letters to Santa arrive from almost every corner of the world, including Europe, Asia, North America and other regions. Over the years, Santa Claus’ Main Post Office has received more than 25 million letters from more than 200 countries. “On any given day, we may read letters from Poland, Taiwan, Latvia, Italy, Japan or Finland. Each one brings us a small piece of the world, in different languages, drawings and stories. My elf team and I never stop marvelling at them, and we look forward to new letters,” says Katja Tervonen, Head Elf at Santa Claus’ Main Post Office.
Santa Claus’ official address
For Santa Claus to receive and read your letter, it should be addressed to:
Santa Claus’ Main Post Office Arctic Circle FINLAND