Rovaniemi is a city in Finland and the provincial center of
Lapland, located near the Arctic Circle at the confluence of the
Kemijoki and Ounasjoki rivers in Lapland. It is a provincial center,
a university city and the center of commerce, administration and
education in its area, as well as a city of sports and culture.
Rovaniemi was separated from the rural municipality of Rovaniemi
(then the municipality of Rovaniemi) in 1929, and in 1960 the
Rovaniemi rural municipality became one of the first six so-called
new cities in Finland. Rovaniemi, which merged with the Rovaniemi
countryside at the beginning of 2006, is Finland's 17th largest city
in terms of population (in 2020), but the largest in Finland and
Europe. The city is also the second largest city in Northern Finland
in terms of population after Oulu. Rovaniemi is the northernmost
city in Finland.
The neighboring municipalities of Rovaniemi
are Kittilä and Sodankylä in the north, Kolari, Pello and Ylitornio
in the west, Tervola, Ranua and Posio in the south and Kemijärvi and
Pelkosenniemi in the east.
The word rova means wooded ridge
or sparsely wooded plateau. The word is a loan from the Sámi
language, where roavvi means an old fire area or a forest danger or
ridge. The name of Rovaniemi in the Sámi languages is: Ruávinjargâ
in Inari Sámi, Roavvenjárga or Roavenjárga in Northern Sámi and
Ruäʹvnjargg in Skolt Sámi.