Rovaniemi is a city north of the Finland, located at 10  km in the south of the Polar circle with the confluence of the Kemijoki and the Ounasjoki, with a little more 100  km of the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia

Capital of the province of Finnish Lapland, its population is now of 58  000 inhabitants, for a surface of 8  016 km ². At January 1st 2006, the town of Rovaniemi amalgamated with the commune of Rovaniemi-countryside ( Rovaniemen maalaiskunta in Finnish), gaining of this fact 22  000 inhabitants. It is today the 12th town of Finland by the population and the first by the surface (5th on the whole of the communes).

History

The site was probably inhabited uninterrupted since the Âge of the stone. The practice of itinerant agriculture would have begun between -750 and -530.

The first mention of the place dates from the year 1453. Very little populated it shelters a vault depending on the parish of Kemi starting from 1632, then an autonomous parish as of 1785.
Le 19th century is that of takeoff and sees the arrival of many migrants, attracted by the promises of the Far North in term of raw materials, in particular the Bois and the Or. Into 1929, the municipality is divided into two between the urban center itself (5 000 inhabitants) and the remainder of the commune (14 000).
La growth of the city is violently stopped by the German troops at the time of the Guerre of Lapland. More than 90% of the buildings are burnt, and the city is overall reduced in ruins.
La rebuilding, started in 1946, is very ambitious. It is carried out according to the town-planning of the architect Alvar Aalto what gives to the city a rather single architectural unit in Finland (with the administrative center of Seinäjoki).

Economy

The decline of the profits related to the raw materials leaves in Rovaniemi two principal resources. The first lies in the public investments: the Finnish State largely supports the administrative capital of its area the least densément populated. Nearly 45% of employment are generated by an omnipresent public office, the city playing the part of only true administrative center of the north of Finland.

The Université of Lapland accommodates approximately 4.000 students, and summons it various establishments of higher education brings the number of students residing downtown to approach the 10.000.

The second engine, tourism, experiences a promising development. Rovaniemi is famous in particular for its museum Arctique, but more especially to be the city of the Father Christmas. This one is often visible with the Santa Claus Village on the level of the polar circle, although he prefers to reside in this sector isolated from Korvatunturi. The business of Christmas saw the opening in 1998 of a Amusement park of the name of Santa Park, which knew broad financial problems.

The very wild surroundings allow practically unlimited possibilities in term of discovered nature and sports activities. Rovaniemi is the true tourist pole of the north of Finland, the charters come in particular from the the United Kingdom or the Japan following one another on its airport during the winter months.

For the anecdote, it is there that one finds the restaurant McDonald's most septentrional of planet.

Geography

The commune is very wide and occupies a central position in Finnish Lapland. It does not count less than 9 municipalities bordering, namely Kittilä and Sodankylä in north, Kemijärvi in the east, Posio in south-east, Ranua and Tervola in the south, Ylitornio and Pello in the west and finally Kolari in the North-West.

The essence of the population resides in the vicinity immediate of the city itself, even if the banks of the two river main roads, the Ounasjoki and the Kemijoki, also shelter some small villages.

The relief, if it is more present than in the south of the country, does not have anything comparable with north the Lapland. The landscape largely consists of northern forests covering hills whose altitude exceeds only exceptionally the 200 meters compared to the neighbouring plains.

Climate

The climate is continental marked without being able for being qualified of polar as much.

  • Annual average of the temperatures: +0,2 °C

  • Average of precipitations: 535 mm
  • Snow on the ground: 183 days per annum
  • Temperature minimum recorded: - 47,5 °C with
  • recorded maximum Temperature: +30,6 °C

The Midnight sun is visible June 6th with the July 7th.

Transport

Air

The Aéroport of Rovaniemi is the more important fourth of the country in term of traffic, with 384  522 passengers in 2005. This figure includes the charters (the tradition is rather old, British Airways made there even sometimes steal the Concorde in the Années 1980) and the many scheduled flights bound for Helsinki (carried out by Finnair and Blue1). It is crossed by the Arctic Circle, with less 10  km of the center town.

Railway

  • VR connects Rovaniemi to the remainder of the Finnish network. Helsinki is connected 5 times per day, for a way lasting from 9 to 12 noon (the ways of night are on average longest)

Truck driver

Rovaniemi is crossed by main road 4 (E75), the North-South road main axe of the country.

Outdistance with the main cities:

Famous personalities born in Rovaniemi

  • And of course impossible to circumvent the Tomi Putaansuu, become a true national hero since the victory of his group Lordi with the Eurovision Contest of the song 2006. A place Lordi besides was inaugurated in full center of Rovaniemi during the summer 2006.

Twinnings

The city does not count less than 14 twin cities:

External bonds

  • Finnish Tourist bureau See “Sites to be visited”.
  • Official site of the city

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