Abstract
Since the prehistoric times, the Sami people have inhabited a large area in Northern Europe - Sápmi. There are several criteria for its division: linguistic, topographic, political, or confessional.
Only the linguistic criterion is the natural one to Sami, for they are one nation with several Sami languages. The Sami identity is archaic, documented by the fact that Sami have used one designation for themselves within the entire Sápmi.