Santa by the numbers: 8 fun facts about his Christmas Eve journey

It’s the final countdown for the man in the red suit and his magical reindeer. And in case your kids have ALL the questions about the man behind that famous white beard, and his elaborate process for spreading joy and cheer, here’s a collection of fun stats about Santa you can share with them as he checks his list for the last time this year!

• According to the Dairy Herd Management, Santa will drink more than 688 million ounces or 5 million gallons of milk as he makes his way across the country on December 24. Whether it’s whole milk, 2%, eggnog, or chocolate milk, Santa sure knows how to enjoy the best of the season!
  
• In order to travel the entire world in a night, Santa’s sleigh has to go extremely fast–1,800 miles per second fast!
  
• Santa has special licenses from the U.S. government to fly, including a commercial space license from the FAA to fly to space to drop off presents at the International Space Station. He received it in 2020. He’s also proudly held his aeroplane license since 1927.
  
• Santa and his wife, Mrs. Claus, both have Canadian passports. They were granted them in 2013, and according to Canadians, that means he’s a Canadian citizen.

• Santa has many names. While he’s known as Santa Claus or sometimes Kris Kringle in the United States, other countries call him by a different moniker. In the UK, he is known as Father Christmas. France calls him Père Noël which translates to Father Christmas. Poland identifies him as St. Nicolas, and Germany gives him the longest name of Weihnachtsmann, which means “Christmas Man.”
  
• The stories of Santa often mention the North Pole as his home, but there’s actually a Santa Claus Village in Finland that is said to have been built close to Santa’s hometown in Lapland, Finland.
  
• Santa’s travels are tracked on Christmas Eve night by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and have been since 1955. You too can track Santa through NORAD’s app or online — it’ll give you the heads up of when you should be fast asleep!
  
• Santa appears to be ageless but as of 2024, he is 1,754 years, 0 months, 17 days, 17 hours and 48 minutes old, according to his recent response. His birthday is actually March 15–many, many cookies ago.

A version of this post was originally published on Dec. 24, 2023. It has been updated.