Rovaniemi is the administrativecapital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern partPeräpohjola. The city centre is situated about 6 kilometres (4 miles) south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at theconfluence of the riverKemijoki and its tributary, theOunasjoki. It is the second-largest city of Northern Finland afterOulu, and, together with the capital cityHelsinki, it is one of Finland's most significant tourist cities in terms of foreign tourism.[8][9] In 2024,CNN listed Rovaniemi as "one of the best places in the world to celebrateChristmas."[10]
The city and the surroundingRovaniemen maalaiskunta (Rural municipality of Rovaniemi) were consolidated into a single entity on 1 January 2006. Rovaniemi municipality has an approximate population of 66,000. The urban area of Rovaniemi has a population of 53,361, in an area of about 59 km2 (23 sq mi). Rovaniemi is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality, and unusually for larger Finnish towns, it is also known by its Finnish name and spelling in theSwedish language.
Thecoat of arms of Rovaniemi was designed by Toivo Vuorela. Its explanation is "in the green field, a silverpall with light-height upper branches; accompanied by a goldenflame in the upper corner".[11] It was approved on 15 August 1956 by the Rovaniemi Rural Municipal Council and confirmed on October 26 at theMinistry of the Interior as the coat of arms of the Rovaniemi Rural Council.[12]
Therova part in the name Rovaniemi has often been considered to be ofSaami origin, asroavve inNorthern Saami denotes a forested ridge or hill or the site of an old forest fire. Theniemi part of the name means "cape". The name of the town in the Saami languages spoken in Finland areInari Sami:Ruávinjargâ,Northern Sami:Roavenjárga andRoavvenjárga andSkolt Sami:Ruäʹvnjargg.
Periodic clearance of new land foragriculture and the practice ofslash-and-burn cultivation began around 750–530 BC. Artifacts found in the area suggest that an increasing number of travellers fromKarelia in the east, Häme in the south and theArctic Ocean coast in the north must have come there from 500 AD onwards. TheSami are indigenous toSápmi.
Rovaniemi is first mentioned by name in official documents in 1453, existing as a set of small villages whose inhabitants earned their living mainly in agriculture and animal husbandry—with fishing and hunting the most important offshoots.[citation needed]
The exploitation of Lapland'snatural resources in the 1800s boosted Rovaniemi's growth. Extensive logging sites and gold fever attracted thousands of people to Lapland. As themining of natural resources was increased, Rovaniemi became the business centre of the province of Lapland.
The township decree was promulgated on 27 June 1928, as a result of which Rovaniemi seceded from theold rural municipality as its own market town on 1 January 1929.[13]
DuringWorld War II, Finland signed theMoscow Armistice on 19 September 1944 and was required to expel forces of its former German ally. In theLapland War retreating German forces utilisedscorched earth tactics, and though initially German GeneralLothar Rendulic ordered only the public buildings in Rovaniemi to be destroyed, on 13 October 1944, the German army received orders to destroy all the buildings in Rovaniemi,[1][14] only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present.[15]
While the German rearguard was going about the destruction, anammunition train in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered many casualties, mainly from glass splinters. During these hostilities, 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed.[14][16] There is a German cemetery 19 km from Rovaniemi where soldiers killed fighting in Lapland during the war are buried.
Although there has been continuous human settlement in the Rovaniemi area since at least theStone Age, few of the buildings date back before 1944, since most of the city was destroyed during World War II. When the city was rebuilt, it was designed with input by the FinnisharchitectAlvar Aalto,[1][14] who planned the city's footprint in the shape of areindeer's head, with the city roads forming theantlers, and the local sports stadium as the reindeer's eye.[17]
Due to its location near the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi has asubarctic climate (KöppenDfc) with short, pleasant summers, while the winters are long, cold and snowy. The city lies just south of the 0 °C (32 °F) mean annual isotherm, but freezing in the soil is very limited even during the winter due to typical heavy snow cover. Its extreme northerly location combined with frequent overcast skies leads to very low levels of sunshine in the winter months; December averages just under six minutes of sunshine daily. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 7 June to 6 July (30 days).
Winters are somewhat modified by marine air from theNorth Atlantic Current that ensures average temperatures are less extreme than expected for an inland area at such a northerly latitude. Nevertheless, Rovaniemi still has colder winters than areas at similar latitudes in Norway or Sweden.
On 26 April 2019, Rovaniemi recorded its warmest April day on record with 19 °C (66 °F).[18]
Climate data for Rovaniemi Lentoasema, elevation: 196m (1991-2020) Extremes (1959-present)
The average annual temperature in Rovaniemi is 0.9 °C (33.6 °F). Snow stays on the ground 175 days a year on average. The lowest temperature ever recorded at the airport is −38.1 °C (−37 °F), recorded on 28 January 1999. However, on the same day temperatures as cold as -47.5 C were recorded at nearby weather stations.[23]The highest temperature ever recorded is 32.2 °C (90 °F), recorded on 18 July 2018 at the railway station.[24]
Despite the fact that Rovaniemi experiencespolar day between 7 June and 6 July (30 days) it does not experiencepolar night. However, the sun barely gets above the horizon in the winter.[25]
Some of the neighborhoods are former rural villages, and the longest distance from said neighborhoods to the city center (a.k.a. "Rovaniemi proper") can be estimated to almost a hundred kilometers apart:
The city of Rovaniemi has 65,670 inhabitants, making it the 17th most populous municipality in Finland. TheRovaniemi region has a population of 69,233.
Population size of Rovaniemi (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[27]
Rovaniemi is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 61,750 persons (94.0%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 140 persons (0.2%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by5.5% of the population. The number ofSámi speakers, Finland's third official language, was 216 persons (0.3%) of the population.[28] AsEnglish andSwedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 40 different languages are spoken in Rovaniemi. The most common foreign languages areRussian (0.7%),Ukrainian (0.6%),English (0.4%),Chinese (0.4%) andArabic (0.3%).[28]
As of 2024[update], there were 3,778 persons with a migrant background living in Rovaniemi, or 6% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 4,367, or 7% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Rovaniemi was 2,886. Most foreign-born citizens came fromSweden, the formerSoviet Union,Ukraine,China andRussia.[28]
The relative share of immigrants in Rovaniemi's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.
In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 69.1% of the population of Rovaniemi. Other religious groups accounted for 1.6% of the population. 29.3% of the population had no religious affiliation.[30]
Of the revival movements within the church,Conservative Laestadianism is particularly active in the locality, with three peace associations in the locality: the Rovaniemi Peace Association,[31] the Rautionsaari Peace Association[32] and the Viirinkylä Peace Association.[33]
Since Rovaniemi is thecapital of theregion of Lapland, many government institutions have their offices there. About 10,000 of the inhabitants are students. Rovaniemi is home to not only theUniversity of Lapland but also theLapland University of Applied Sciences (formerly known as the Rovaniemi Polytechnic), which comprises institutes of information and traditional technology, business, health and social care, culinary studies,forestry, rural studies, and sports. Local newspapers include theLapin Kansa,Uusi Rovaniemi andLappilainen.
Summer in Rovaniemi, which includes theMidnight sun
Because of the unspoiled nature of the area and numerous recreational opportunities,tourism is an importantindustry in Rovaniemi. The city has a number of hotels and restaurants located both in the centre and on the outskirts of the town, hosting over 481,000 visitors in 2013.[36] Tourism can be seen and heard in the city's streetscape, at theArctic Circle and atRovaniemi Airport, one of Finland's busiest airports in terms of passenger numbers.[37] However, as a mild phenomenon, popularity of the city has also broughtovertourism, from which the locals suffer.[1][9][38][39][40][41]
Directly across the river from the town is the Ounasvaara ski centre.[45] There have been recreational activities in the Ounasvaara area since 1927,[46] when the firstwinter sports were also organized.[47] The top of the Ounasvaara hill bears the site of some of the earliest known human settlements in the area.
A phenomenon also attracting numerous tourists is theAurora Borealis orNorthern Lights.[48] In FinnishLapland, the number of auroral displays can be as high as 200 a year, whereas in southern Finland, the number is usually fewer than 20.
Rovaniemi's most prominent landmarks include the Jätkänkynttilä bridge with its eternal flame over the Kemijoki river, theArktikum Science Museum, which rises out of the bank of the Ounasjoki river, theRovaniemi city hall, theLappia Hall, which serves as a theatre, concert hall, and congress centre, and thelibrary.
The last three mentioned buildings are designed byAlvar Aalto. The Arktikum Science Museum is a comprehensive museum of Finland's, and the world's, Arctic regions.
The city is home to the football clubsRovaniemen Palloseura, or RoPS, part ofYkkönen, the Finnish third division, andFC Santa Claus, part of thesixth division; to theice hockey teamRovaniemen Kiekko, or RoKi, whose home arena isLappi Areena and which competes inMestis, the second-highest league in Finland; and to the volleyball team called Team Lakkapää (formerlyRovaniemen Santasport andPerungan Pojat), which plays in theFinland Volleyball League and won the national championship in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2011. The Rovaniemi Nordmen, an American Football team, was formed in 2013 and has played at various levels throughout the Finnish American Football Association.[49]
VR Group, the Finnish state railway system, operates direct daytime and overnight passenger trains fromRovaniemi Station toOulu,Tampere,Helsinki andTurku.Diesel-powered passenger trains operated northeast of Rovaniemi toKemijärvi until March 2014, when electrification toKemijärvi was completed.Rovaniemi Airport is located about 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the Rovaniemi city centre, and it is the second-busiest airport in Finland afterHelsinki-Vantaa Airport;[50] while at the beginning of the millennium, over 300 international flights landed in Rovaniemi annually, in the 2020s, the number is almost five times that.[9] The busiest time for the airport is in the Christmas season, when many people go on Santa Flights.[51]
Snowboarder and 2005 WinterX Games gold medalistAntti Autti, Rovaniemi native, in April 2005 received his own piece of land in the city for being named to the2006 Finnish Olympic team
A version of the music video forLordi's song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was filmed near Rovaniemi for the opening of the2007 Eurovision Song Contest.[55] After winning the contest, a square called theLordi's Square (Lordin aukio) in the city center of Rovaniemi has been named after the band.[56]
The video for theNightwish single "The Islander" was filmed in Rovaniemi by Stobe Harju.
McDonald's location at Rovaniemi, formerly the northernmost McDonald's in the world from 1997 to 2013 and from 2022 to 2024.
Rovaniemi used to have the northernmost location of anyMcDonald's in the world from 1997[57][58] until the opening of a McDonald's inMurmansk in 2013, 23 years after it first opened in that country.[59] However, the title of the northernmost in the world returned to Rovaniemi in 2022, when in response toRussia's invasion of Ukraine, all Russian McDonald's restaurants were closed, and rebranded toVkusno i tochka.[60] In January 2024, Rovaniemi once again lost the title of having the northernmost McDonald's in the world as a new restaurant opened inTromsø, Norway.[61]
Rovaniemi appears as one location ofGavin Lyall's 1963 bookThe Most Dangerous Game, a spy-thriller set inLapland and the northernUSSR.
