Talk:Sapmi

Merge with Lapland

Why was this article started? The Sapmi region ought to be the same as the Lapland region, which already have an existing article. The relevant issue would be if it whould be placed at Sapmi or Lapland, but that question should have been raised at Talk:Lapland. -- Mic 13:39, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

I did not know that the Sápmi-region in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia was called "Lapland". Maybe both Sapmi and Lapland would be renamed to Sápmi? I think it is better to use the transcription "Sami" and my wish is that we named it Sápmi/Sapmi. I'm sorry Mic for my action (I though the earlier article refered to counties.) // Rogper 16:14, 19 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

The articles cover the same topic and I think your additions to Sapmi should be merged into Lapland. Including the map and flag. The real question however is whether it should remain at Lapland or whether it should be moved to Sapmi. From a Sami point of view it may be natural to call it "Sapmi", but so is using the term "Sverige" rather than Sweden if you are Swedish. What is relevant here is the proper English term. I feel that Lapland is still the proper term, even if the similar name "Lappland" in the Scandinavian languages may have a negative connotation. However, I would like to see more opinion on this. (A related issue is the recent move of the article from from Saami to Sami.) -- Mic 17:30, May 19, 2004 (UTC)

P.S. Just for a note: Länsstyrelsen in Norrbottens län calls it "Sapmi", i.e. the cross-country region [1]. United Nations have used it in here, whereas Lapland refers to the Finnish province. :) D.S. // Rogper 20:12, 19 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I think we need to stay clear from the meaning of "Lappland" in Swedish and Finnish, which refers to a historical province, as well as current administrative entities and only refers to those countries. In English "Lapland" also refers to Norway and Russia and the same would be true for "Laponie" in French, for instance.

If you wish to make a separation and define the Lapland region from an exclusively Sami perspective, I think it would be better to do that with in the existing Sami article. In this sense Lapland would also be the broader term since it would not exclude groups. The problem that arises from having both Lapland and Sapmi at the same time is that they both are competing to describe the same region and this will only lead to confusion among readers. In such a case Sapmi, instead of redirecting to Lapland should be made into a disambiguation page between;

Sápmi - the geographical region of Lapland
Sápmi - the ancestral lands of the Sami people

-- Mic 08:33, May 20, 2004 (UTC)

"Sapmi" is not the English-language terminology though ᚣᚷᚷᛞᚱᚫᛋᛁᛚ

P.S. Even though (the Swedish etymologi rooted) Lapland is used in Britannica, "Sápmi" is officially used in European Union to this cross-country region, as well officially word in United Nations. There is simply two words, and my opinion is that we follow the EU and UN and redirect Sapmi and Lapland to Sápmi. D.S. // Rogper 21:18, 20 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

This is the English-language wikipedia: Lapland is the English-language term used for this region, Sámpi is not. Lapland should be used in preference, but the term "Sámpi" should be given an explaination also. ᚣᚷᚷᛞᚱᚫᛋᛁᛚ