Guovdageaidnu (Northern Sámi), or Kautokeino (Norwegian) (also Koutokeino in Kven) is a municipality in Finnmark County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu. The municipality was part of the old Kistrand municipality until 1851.

Guovdageaidnu is one of two the cultural centers of Northern Sápmi today. The other is Kárášjohka/Karasjok. In Guovdageaidnu the most significant industries are reindeer herding, theatre/movie industry, and the public education system.

In the village of Guovdageaidnu, about 2000 of the 3000 people in the municipality reside. The village of Máze has 400 people, while the remaining live in 14 smaller villages. Recently the population has increased about 80 people each year. Guovdageaidnu has different demographics than the county of Finnmark and Norway, in that more than 50% of the population is younger than 30 years. Also, the number of people older than 66 years is half of the national average. For the last couple of years, Kautokeino has been plagued by high rates of unemployment, peaking at 10% in 2006 / 2007.

If you want to read more about Guovdageaidnu, please visit Wikipedia.

Sámi University College

The university college in Guovdageaidnu is called Sámi allaskuvla / Sámi University College. It has national responsibility for Sámi higher education, including teacher-, and journalist-training. The college attempts to develop the syllabuses on the basis of Sámi needs, and attempts to develop Sámi as an academic language.

For more information on Sámi University College, please open our homesite at www.samiskhs.no.