Every year, Santa Claus receives thousands of letters from all over the world. Santa and his elves are waiting for kids to start sending their Santa letters to the North Pole now, in plenty of time for Christmas. Children should address their Santa letters to: Santa Claus’ Main Post Office, FI-96930 NAPAPIIRI, Finland Remember to write the address clearly, place a S$1.10 stamp on the envelope and don't forget to include your return address on the back of the envelope. SingPost would like to wish all children and their families a very Merry Christmas.

Countries whose postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Great Britain (750,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019).

In 2006, Finland received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries and Slovakia from 20 countries.

Canada Post replies to letters in 26 languages, Deutsche Post in 16 languages, and France this year specially recruited someone to answer the enormous volume of mail from Russia.

In Ukraine, children who send letters by 10 January automatically take part in a lottery offering 1,000 prizes. Other Posts include a small gift with their replies.

In Canada, Santa has his own postcode – H0H 0H0

Some operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail, proving that kids still write letters.

As a general rule, Posts recommend clearly indicating a return address on the envelope and not slipping any little treats inside.

In many countries, stamp collectors and others send their letters to post offices with Christmas-sounding names to have their mail postmarked. Examples in the United States: Christmas (Florida), Bethlehem (Maryland), Hope, Nazareth (Michigan), Saint Joseph (Missouri), Snow Shoe (Pennsylvania). In Canada: Christmas Island (Nova Scotia). Examples in Europe: Berne Bethlehem (Switzerland), St. Nikolaus (Germany), Christkindl (Austria).