Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and the regional capital of Lapland. It is located near the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the

sub-region A subregion is a part of a larger geographical region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the United Nations geoscheme ...

has a population of approximately . It is the most populous

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in Finland, and the 12th most populous

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

in the country. Rovaniemi is the administrative

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part

Peräpohjola Southern Lapland or Rear Bothnia ( or ''Peräpohja''; or ''Överbotten''; ) was the northernmost part of the historical province of Ostrobothnia, and it has sometimes been considered a separate region, but it is now part of the Lapland region. ...

. The city centre is situated about south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the river

Kemijoki The Kemijoki or Kemi River (, ), with its length, is the longest river in Finland. It runs south through the towns of Kemijärvi and Rovaniemi before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Kemi. Facta 2001, part 8, ''finnish'' At Rovaniemi the Ouna ...

and its tributary, the

Ounasjoki The Ounasjoki () is the Kemijoki's largest tributary and is Finland's longest single river tributary. It is also the largest river entirely within its borders. Ounasjoki is approximately in length, and the catchment area is , 27% of the Kemijoki ...

. It is the second-largest city of Northern Finland after

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, and, together with the capital city

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, it is one of Finland's most significant tourist cities in terms of foreign tourism. In 2024, ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

'' listed Rovaniemi as "one of the best places in the world to celebrate

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

." The city and the surrounding (Rural municipality of Rovaniemi) were consolidated into a single entity on 1 January 2006. Rovaniemi municipality has an approximate population of . The urban area of Rovaniemi has a population of 53,361, in an area of about . Rovaniemi is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality, and unusually for larger Finnish towns, it is also known by its Finnish name and spelling in the

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Rovaniemi was designed by Toivo Vuorela. Its explanation is "in the green field, a silver pall with light-height upper branches; accompanied by a golden

flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

in the upper corner". It was approved on 15 August 1956 by the Rovaniemi Rural Municipal Council and confirmed on October 26 at the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

as the coat of arms of the Rovaniemi Rural Council.

Name

The ''rova'' part in the name Rovaniemi has often been considered to be of

Saami The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...

origin, as ' in Northern Saami denotes a forested ridge or hill or the site of an old forest fire. The ''niemi'' part of the name means "

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

". The name of the town in the Saami languages spoken in Finland are , and ' and .

History

Periodic clearance of new land for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and the practice of

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

cultivation began around 750–530 BC. Artifacts found in the area suggest that an increasing number of travellers from

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

in the east, Häme in the south and the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

coast in the north must have come there from 500 AD onwards. The

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

are indigenous to

Sápmi is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, stretching over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Most of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle, boun ...

. 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. The exploitation of Lapland's

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

in the 1800s boosted Rovaniemi's growth. Extensive logging sites and gold fever attracted thousands of people to Lapland. As the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

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 the old rural municipality as its own market town on 1 January 1929.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Finland signed the

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

on 19 September 1944 and was required to expel forces of its former German ally. In the

Lapland War During World War II, the Lapland War (; ; ) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. Though the Finns and the Germans had been fighting together ...

retreating German forces utilised

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

tactics, and though initially German General

Lothar Rendulic Lothar Rendulic (; 23 October 1887 – 17 January 1971)Rudolf Neck, Adam Wandruszka, Isabella Ackerl (ed.) (1980): ''Protokolle des Ministerrates der Ersten Republik, 1918–1938, Abteilung VIII, 20. Mai 1932 bis 25. Juli 1934''. Vienna: Verlag ...

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, only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present.Suomen Kuvalehti 39/2004 While the German rearguard was going about the destruction, an ammunition 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.Kallioniemi 1989, s. 196–209 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 the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

, 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 Finnish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

, who planned the city's footprint in the shape of a

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

's head, with the city roads forming the

antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...

, and the local sports stadium as the reindeer's eye.

Geography

Climate

Due to its location near the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc'') with short, pleasant summers, while the winters are long, cold and snowy. The city lies just south of the 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. Winters are somewhat modified by marine air from the

North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...

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 . Lordin Aukio

The average annual temperature in Rovaniemi is . Snow stays on the ground 175 days a year on average. The lowest temperature ever recorded at the airport is , recorded on 28 January 1999. However, on the same day temperatures as cold as -47.5 C were recorded at nearby weather stations. The highest temperature ever recorded is , recorded on 18 July 2018 at the railway station. Despite the fact that Rovaniemi experiences

polar day Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is s ...

between 7 June and 6 July (30 days) it does not experience

polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...

. However, the sun barely gets above the horizon in the winter.

Populated places

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: * Alakorkalo * Ala-Nampa * Auttinseutu * Hirvas * Jaatila * Juotasniemi * Karvonranta * Katajaranta * Kauko * Kiiruna * Kivitaipale * Kolpene * Korkalovaara * Koskenkylä * Lehtojärvi * Leipee * Lohiniva * Marrasjärvi * Marraskoski * Meltaus * Misi * Muurola * Narkaus * Niesi * Nivankylä * Nivavaara * Norvajärvi * Oikarainen * Ojanperä * Olkkajärvi * Ounasrinne * Paavalniemi * Patokoski * Pekkala * Perunkajärvi * Petäjäinen *

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

* Pullinranta * Pöykkölä * Rantaviiri * Rautiosaari * Ruikka * Saarenkylä * Sinettä * Santamäki * Sonka * Syväsenvaara * Tapionkylä * Tennilä * Teollisuuskylä * Tiainen * Tuhnaja * Vaarala * Vanttausjärvi * Vanttauskoski * Vennivaara * Viiri * Vikajärvi * Välijoki * Ylikylä * Yli-Nampa

Demographics

Population

The city of Rovaniemi has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The Rovaniemi region has a population of .

Languages

Rovaniemi is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. , the majority of the population, persons (), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number of Swedish speakers was persons () of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by of the population. The number of

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

speakers, Finland's third official language, was persons () of the population. As English and Swedish 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 are

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

(0.7%), Ukrainian (0.6%), English (0.4%), Chinese (0.4%) and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

(0.3%).

Immigration

, there were 3,778 persons with a migrant background living in Rovaniemi, or 6% of the population. 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 from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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.

Religion

In 2023, the Evangelical 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. Of the revival movements within the church,

Conservative Laestadianism Conservative Laestadianism is the largest branch of the Lutheran Christian revival, revival movement Laestadianism. It has spread to 16 countries. As of 2012 there were about 115,000 Conservative Laestadians, most of them in Finland, the U ...

is particularly active in the locality, with three peace associations in the locality: the Rovaniemi Peace Association, the Rautionsaari Peace Association and the Viirinkylä Peace Association. Other local communities include the Rovaniemi Pentecostal Church, a member of the Finnish Pentecostal Church, and the Rovaniemi Adventist Church, part of the Finnish Adventist Church.

Economy

Since Rovaniemi is the

of the region of Lapland, many government institutions have their offices there. About 10,000 of the inhabitants are students. Rovaniemi is home to not only the University of Lapland but also the Lapland 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 Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

, rural studies, and sports. Local newspapers include the ''Lapin Kansa'', ''Uusi Rovaniemi'' and ''Lappilainen''.

Tourism

Because of the unspoiled nature of the area and numerous recreational opportunities,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is an important

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

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. Tourism can be seen and heard in the city's streetscape, at the

and at

Rovaniemi Airport Rovaniemi Airport () is the second busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa, as measured by the number of passengers and landings. It is located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses t ...

, one of Finland's busiest airports in terms of passenger numbers. However, as a mild phenomenon, popularity of the city has also brought

overtourism Overtourism is congestion or overcrowding from an excess of tourists, resulting in conflicts with locals. The World Tourism Organization defines overtourism as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influ ...

, from which the locals suffer. Rovaniemi is also considered by Finns to be the official home town of

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

.Santa Claus' Village on the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi in Lapland in Finland
It is home to the

Santa Claus Village Santa Claus Village () is an amusement park in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. It was opened in 1985. History The first building to be built in the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi was the Roosevelt Lodge, which was built in the 1950 ...

at the Arctic Circle and SantaPark Arctic World, which is located north of the centre. Directly across the river from the town is the Ounasvaara ski centre. There have been recreational activities in the Ounasvaara area since 1927, when the first winter sports were also organized. 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 the

Aurora Borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

or ''Northern Lights''. In Finnish Lapland, the number of auroral displays can be as high as 200 a year, whereas in southern Finland, the number is usually fewer than 20.

Attractions

Rovaniemi's most prominent landmarks include the Jätkänkynttilä bridge with its eternal flame over the Kemijoki river, the

Arktikum Science Museum Arktikum is a museum and science centre in Rovaniemi, Finland, which opened in 1992. The building is also a popular culture destination and venue for meetings and conferences and has a cafe and library to serve the customers. Two separate exhibiti ...

, which rises out of the bank of the Ounasjoki river, the Rovaniemi city hall, the Lappia Hall, which serves as a theatre, concert hall, and congress centre, and the

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. The last three mentioned buildings are designed by

. The Arktikum Science Museum is a comprehensive museum of Finland's, and the world's, Arctic regions.

Sports

The city is home to the football clubs

Rovaniemen Palloseura Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

, or RoPS, part of

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

, the Finnish third division, and FC Santa Claus, part of the sixth division; to the

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team Rovaniemen Kiekko, or RoKi, whose home arena is

Lappi Areena Lappi Areena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Rovaniemi, Finland which hold concerts, trade fairs and sporting events particularly ice hockey. The arena was built in 2003 and has a capacity of 4780 people for concerts and 3500 for ice hockey ma ...

and which competes in

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

, the second-highest league in Finland; and to the volleyball team called Team Lakkapää (formerly Rovaniemen Santasport and Perungan Pojat), which plays in the Finland 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. Rovaniemi has hosted several international ski competition, including the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1984, several FIS Nordic Combined World Cup and

FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup The FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup is a series of ski jumping competitions arranged yearly by the International Ski Federation. It is considered the second level of international ski jumping, ranking below the World Cup and not counting Grand P ...

events, the 2005 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships, the 1970 Winter Universiade and the 2008 Winter Transplant Games. In 2021, Rovaniemi hosted the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

for 2021 Arctic Rally Finland, the first WRC event held inside the

Transport

VR Group VR-Group Plc (, ), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With ...

, the Finnish state railway system, operates direct daytime and overnight passenger trains from Rovaniemi Station to

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

and

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. Diesel-powered passenger trains operated northeast of Rovaniemi to

Kemijärvi Kemijärvi (; ; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the sub-region of Eastern Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika Halonen, who moved from the region of Oulu, fro ...

until March 2014, when electrification to

was completed.

is located about north of the Rovaniemi city centre, and it is the second-busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport; 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. The busiest time for the airport is in the Christmas season, when many people go on Santa Flights.

Notable inhabitants

* Snowboarder and 2005 Winter

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

gold medalist Antti Autti, Rovaniemi native, in April 2005 received his own piece of land in the city for being named to the 2006 Finnish Olympic team * Antti Iivari (born 1992), ice hockey player * writer Timo K. Mukka died in Rovaniemi in 1974 * Nätti-Jussi ("Pretty John"), legendary

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

and forester * Harri Olli,

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

Tanja Poutiainen Tanja Tuulia Poutiainen (born 6 April 1980) is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Finland. She specialized in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, and was the silver medalist in the women's giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Ol ...

Alpine skier * Tauno Luiro ski jumper, world record holder * Tomi Putaansuu, better known as

Mr. Lordi Tomi Petteri Putaansuu (born 15 February 1974), known professionally as Mr Lordi, is a Finnish musician, businessman, special effect make-up artist, songwriter, painter, comics artist and graphic designer. He is best known as the lead vocalist ...

lead singer of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band and 2006 Eurovision Song Contest winner

Lordi Lordi () is a Finnish Rock music, rock band. Formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu), Lordi are known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during c ...

* Jari Tervo, author * Miia Tervo, film director *

Antti Tuisku Antti Tuisku (born 27 February 1984) is a retired Finnish pop singer. He finished third in the 2003 '' Idols'' talent show, the Finnish version of '' Pop Idol''. Tuisku has sold over 300,000 records during his career in Finland. In 2016, Tuisku ...

, singer *

in Rovaniemi, said to be the residence of

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

* Progressive rock band Absoluuttinen Nollapiste * The black metal band

Beherit Beherit is a Finnish black metal band from Rovaniemi. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), Demonic Fornication (Jari Vaarala) and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen), with the purpose of performing "the most ...

came from Rovaniemi

Twin towns – sister cities

Rovaniemi is twinned with: *

Ajka Ajka () is a city in Hungary with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the hills of Bakony. History Around 1000 BCE, the area was inhabited by Celts. By the second century CE, the territory was conquered by the Roman Empire, Romans. The Hu ...

, Hungary *

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

, Turkey *

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

, United States *

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

, Iceland *

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, China *

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

, Germany *

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

, Sweden *

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

, Norway *

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

, Germany *

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

, Poland *

Sankt Johann in Tirol Sankt Johann in Tirol, called Sainihåns () in the local dialect, is a Market town#German-language area, market municipality in the Kitzbühel (district), Kitzbühel district of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria. In the regional ductus (linguistics), ...

, Austria *

Veszprém Veszprém (; , , , ) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name. Etymology The city's name derives ...

, Hungary In March 2022, Rovaniemi suspended the agreement with

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

, Russia due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

In popular culture

A 1996 Christmas episode of ''

Tots TV ''Tots TV'' is a British children's television programme, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central. The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network (part of CITV) from 1993 to 1998. Development ''Tots TV'' was written by two of ...

'' called "Lapland Out" took place in Rovaniemi. The 1998 Spanish romantic film '' Lovers of the Arctic Circle'' ''(Los amantes del Círculo Polar)'', by director

Julio Medem Julio Medem Lafont (born 21 October 1958) is a Basque film director, producer, editor, and screenwriter. Biography Medem was born on 21 October 1958 in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain and showed an interest in movies since childhood, when ...

, partly takes place in Rovaniemi. Rovaniemi appears in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Tom Clancy's EndWar ''Tom Clancy's EndWar'' is a strategy video game Strategy video game is a major Video game genres, video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of vid ...

'' as a possible battlefield. In the game, Rovaniemi houses military facilities critical to a missile shield for a

European Federation A federal Europe, also referred to as the United States of Europe (USE) or a European federation, is a hypothetical scenario of European integration leading to the formation of a sovereign state, sovereign superstate (similar to the United Sta ...

. Rovaniemi is a central scene in a documentary film '' Reindeerspotting''. TV-Star

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV Reality tel ...

and his friends travelled to Rovaniemi in their film '' Bam Margera Presents: Where the ♯$&% Is Santa?'' in order to find Santa Claus who is assumed to live in Rovaniemi. A version of the music video for

's song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was filmed near Rovaniemi for the opening of the

2007 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song " Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcast ...

. After winning the contest, a square called the Lordi's Square (''Lordin aukio'') in the city center of Rovaniemi has been named after the band. The video for the

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...

single " The Islander" was filmed in Rovaniemi by Stobe Harju. Rovaniemi McDonald 01

Rovaniemi used to have the northernmost location of any

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

in the world from 1997 until the opening of a McDonald's in

in 2013, 23 years after it first opened in that country. However, the title of the northernmost in the world returned to Rovaniemi in 2022, when in response to

Russia's invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, all Russian McDonald's restaurants were closed, and rebranded to Vkusno i tochka. In January 2024, Rovaniemi once again lost the title of having the northernmost McDonald's in the world as a new restaurant opened in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

, Norway. Rovaniemi appears as one location of

Gavin Lyall Gavin Tudor Lyall (9 May 1932 – 18 January 2003) was an English author of Spy fiction, espionage thrillers. Biography Lyall was born in Birmingham, then in Warwickshire (now West Midlands (county), West Midlands), England, as the son of a ...

's 1963 book ''The Most Dangerous Game'', a spy-thriller set in Lapland and the northern

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Rovaniemi was featured in the first episode of '' The Reluctant Traveler''. Hallmark Media's 2024 television film '' The Finnish Line'' features scenes shot in Santa Claus Village.

Notes

References

External links

City of Rovaniemi
– official website (in English)
Visit Rovaniemi
(in English)
Rovaniemi - Santa's Hometown & Capital of Lapland
– Visit Finnish Lapland (in English)
Satellite view of Rovaniemi
{{Authority control Articles containing video clips Cities and towns in Finland Christmas traditions Municipalities of Lapland (Finland)