Oslo may be Norway's official capital city, but the unofficial capital of the country's Sami population lies several kilometres north in Karasjok.

The municipality became only the third in Norway to receive a Sami name, Karasjohka, in 1990, and today, the Sami and Norwegian names are used interchangeably in the community.

Karasjok hotels lie much closer to Finland, whose border is just 18kms away, than any other major Norwegian community.

Sami is the first language spoken by 80 per cent of Karasjok residents, and the community has been the seat of the national Sami Parliament, known as the Samediggi, since 1989.

Most tourist attractions are related to Sami culture in some way, from the Sami Artists Centre to the Sapmi Culture Park, to the vendors selling traditional Sami handicrafts called duodji.

Even the community's 1807 Lutheran church, the oldest in Finnmark, was replaced by a larger wooden structure influenced by Sami architecture after the original church became too small to hold patrons attending regular services.

Reviews: The hotels in Karasjok we list total 37 reviews, with an average score of 8.3 out of 10

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