Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

region in

Savukoski Savukoski (; ; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , which is the lowest in relation to ...

, Lapland in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Its name is 35 letters long and is the longest

place name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

in Finland, and also the third longest, if names with spaces or hyphens are included, in Europe. It has also been the longest official place name in the European Union since 31 January 2020, when

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

was completed, as the record was previously held by

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), often shortened to Llanfairpwll and sometimes to Llanfair PG, is a village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the ...

, a village in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Placename and toponymy

According to Finnish linguist Taarna Valtonen, the name can be decomposed as: ''Äteri=tsi, puteri=tsi, puoli, lauta=tsi, jänkä'' from various

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

parts (< ''*adderidži pjedaridži puoꞷᵉli + -lauta=tsi- + jänkä''): *''adderidži'': possibly from a Samic given name (compare Skolt Sami ''Oʹnddri'') that is cognate with Finnish ''

Antero Antero is a Finnish given name and the Spanish version of the Latin name Anterus. It may refer to: * Antero Abreu (1927–2017), Angolan author and poet * Antero Alli (1952–2023), Finnish astrologer * Ántero Asto, Peruvian politician * Antero de ...

'' (<<

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Andreas Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runeston ...

''); the ending is either a Samic

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

ending or possibly from a

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

patronymic suffix A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

*''pjedaridži'': possibly from a Samic given name that is cognate with Finnish '' Pietari'' (<<

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''Πέτρος'' ('' Pétros'')), same ending as above *''puoꞷᵉli'': possibly from a Samic given name (compare Skolt Sami ''Paavvâl'') that is cognate with Finnish ''Paavali'' (<< Latin '' Paulus''); the variant would have had a vowel ''*-uo-'', which is not attested *''-lauta=tsi-'': akin to Inari Sami ''láávtáš'' (meaning ''niliaitta'' in Finnish, ''njalla'' in

Northern Sámi Northern Sámi or North Sámi ( ; ; ; ; ; disapproved exonym Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely spoken of all Sámi languages. The area where Northern Sámi is spoken covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Geographic distr ...

, or kind of "

bear cache A bear cache, food cache or bear box is a place designed to store food outdoors and prevent bears and other animals from accessing it. They are used by campers when staying in bear habitat. They can also be used by hunters for storing game. A ...

" in English; the word is cognate with Finnish ''lautta'', "

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

", not ''lauta'', "board") thus possibly the name would translate as: "The bog on which the storage hut standing on a single pillar and belonging to 'Paul', the son of 'Peter', the son of 'Andrew', stands/stood on".

In popular culture

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

Salla Salla, known as Kuolajärvi until 1936, is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The nearby settlement of Sallatunturi is ...

was named Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari after this bog region. According to an anecdote, the owner of the pub tried many different names for it, but all of them had already been taken. Frustrated, he registered the pub under a name he knew no one else would be using. The pub also had the longest name of a registered commercial establishment in Finland. The bar was in practice known as ''Äteritsi-baari''. The pub was closed in April 2006.

References

Savukoski Bogs of Finland Landforms of Lapland (Finland) {{Lapland-geo-stub