Lapland (Finland)

Geography

The area of the Lapland region is 100,367 km2, which consists of 92,667 km2 of dry land, 6,316 km2 fresh water and 1,383 km2 of seawater. In the south it borders the Northern Ostrobothnia region, in the west, Sweden, in the north and west Norway, and in the east, Russia. Its borders follow three rivers: the Tana, Muonio and Torne. The largest lake is Lake Inari, 1,102 km2. The region's highest point is on Halti, which reaches 1,324 m (4,344 ft) on the Finnish side of the border and is the highest point in Finland.

The areas of Enontekiö and Utsjoki in northern Lapland are known as Fell-Lapland. The bulk and remaining Lapland is known as Forest-Lapland. Lake Inari, the many fens of the region and the Salla-Saariselkä mountains are all part of Forest-Lapland. Fell-Lapland lies in the fells of the Scandinavian Mountains. It is not made up of barren ground like blockfields but instead has the vegetation of birch forests, willow thickets or heath. Common soil types in Forest-Lapland are till and sand with conifer forests growing on top. These forests show little variation across Lapland. Compared to southern Finland forest tree species grow slower. The understory typically consists of blueberries, lichens, crowberries and lings.

The landscape of large parts of Lapland is an inselberg plain. It has been suggested the inselberg plains were formed in the Late Cretaceous or Paleogene period by pediplanation or etchplanation. Relative to southern Finland Lapland stands out for its thick till cover. The hills and mountains are typically made up of resistant rocks like granite, gneiss, quartzite and amphibolite. The central parts of the Fennoscandian ice sheet had cold-based conditions during times of maximum extent. This means that in areas like northeast Sweden and northern Finland, pre-existing landforms and deposits escaped glacier erosion and are particularly well preserved at present. Northwest to the southeast movement of the ice has left a field of aligned drumlins in central Lapland. Ribbed moraines found in the same area reflects a later west-to-east change in the movement of the ice. Present-day periglacial conditions in Lapland are reflected in the existence of numerous palsas, permafrost landforms developed on peat.

The bedrock of Lapland belongs to the Karelian Domain occupying the bulk of the region, the Kola Domain in the northeast around Lake Inari and the Scandinavian Caledonides in the tip of Lapland's northwestern arm. With few exceptions rocks are of Archean and Proterozoic age. Granites, gneiss, metasediments and metavolcanics are common rocks while greenstone belts are recurring features. More rare rock associations include mafic and ultramafic layered intrusions and one of the world's oldest ophiolites. The region hosts valuable deposits of gold, chromium, iron and phosphate.

Climate

The first snowflakes fall to the ground in late August or early September over the higher peaks. The first ground-covering snow arrives on average in October or late September. Permanent snow cover comes between mid-October and the end of November, significantly earlier than in southern Finland. The winter is long, approximately seven months. The snow cover is usually thickest in early April. Soon after that the snow cover starts to melt fast. The thickest snow cover ever was measured in Kilpisjärvi on 19 April 1997 and it was 190 cm. The annual mean temperature varies from -2 C in the northwest to 2 C in the southwest (Kemi-Tornio area). Lapland exhibits a trend of increasing precipitation towards the south, with the driest parts being located at the two arms. In mid-winter, it is possible that temperatures in Lapland could drop to dangerously low temperatures, even -40 C; this could have an impact on, among other things, the tourist flights that prevail during the winter season.

In summer, the average temperature is consistently over 10 C. Heat waves with daily temperatures exceeding 25 C occur on an average of 5–10 days per summer in northern Finland.

History

The area of Lapland was split between two counties of the Swedish Realm from 1634 to 1809. The northern and western areas were part of Västerbotten County, while the southern areas (so-called Peräpohjola) were part of Ostrobothnia County (after 1755 Oulu County). The northern and western areas were transferred in 1809 to Oulu County, which became Oulu Province. Under the royalist constitution of Finland during the first half of 1918, Lapland was to become a Grand Principality and part of the inheritance of the proposed king of Finland. Lapland Province was separated from Oulu Province in 1938.

During the Interim Peace and beginning of the Continuation War the government of Finland allowed the Nazi German Army to station itself in Lapland as a part of Operation Barbarossa. After Finland made a separate peace with the Soviet Union in 1944, the Soviet Union demanded that Finland expel the German army from its soil. The result was the Lapland War, during which almost the whole civilian population of Lapland was evacuated. The Germans used scorched earth tactics in Lapland before they withdrew to Norway. 40 to 47 percent of the dwellings in Lapland and 417 km of railroads were destroyed, 9500 km of roadways were mined, destroyed or were unusable, and 675 bridges and 3700 km of telephone lines were also destroyed. Ninety percent of Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, was burned to the ground, with only a few pre-war buildings surviving the destruction.

After the Second World War, Petsamo municipality and part of Salla municipality were ceded to the Soviet Union. The decades following the war were a period of rebuilding, industrialisation and fast economic growth. Large hydroelectric plants and mines were established and cities, roads and bridges were rebuilt after the destruction of the war. In the late 20th century the economy of Lapland started to decline, mines and factories became unprofitable and the population started to decline rapidly across most of the region.

The provinces of Finland were abolished on 1 January 2010, but Lapland was reorganised as one of the new regions that replaced them.

Municipalities

Main article: Municipalities of Lapland (Finland)

The region of Lapland consists of 21 municipalities, four of which have city status (marked in bold).

Sub-regions

Kemi-Tornio sub-region

• [[File:Kemi.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Kemi
• [[File:Keminmaa.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Keminmaa
• [[File:Simo.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Simo
• [[File:Tervola.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Tervola
• [[File:Tornio.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Tornio Rovaniemi sub-region
• [[File:Rovaniemi.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Rovaniemi
• [[File:Ranua.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Ranua Torne Valley sub-region
• [[File:Pellon vaakuna.svg|23px]] Pello
• [[File:Ylitornio.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Ylitornio Eastern Lapland sub-region
• [[File:Kemijärvi.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Kemijärvi
• [[File:Pelkosenniemi.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Pelkosenniemi
• [[File:Posio.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Posio
• [[File:Salla.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Salla
• [[File:Savukoski.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Savukoski Northern Lapland sub-region
• [[File:Inari.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Inari
• [[File:Sodankyla.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Sodankylä
• [[File:Utsjoki.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Utsjoki Fell Lapland sub-region
• [[File:Enontekiö.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Enontekiö
• [[File:Kittilä.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Kittilä
• [[File:Kolari.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Kolari
• [[File:Muonio.vaakuna.svg|23px]] Muonio

List of municipalities

Economy

Tourism

Population

Lapland is the home of about 3.4% of Finland's total population and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in Lapland are Rovaniemi (the regional capital), Tornio, and Kemi. In 2011, Lapland had a population of 183,320 of whom 177,950 spoke Finnish, 1,526 spoke Sami, 387 spoke Swedish and 3,467 spoke some other languages as their mother tongue. Of the Sami languages, Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami are spoken in the region. Pelkosenniemi is the smallest municipality in mainland Finland in terms of population, while Savukoski is sparsely populated in terms of population density.

Lapland's population has been in decline since 1990.

Regional council

The 21 municipalities of Lapland are organised into a single region, where they cooperate in the Lapland regional council, Lapin liitto or Lapplands förbund.

Politics

Lapland has seven seats in the 200-seat parliament of Finland. In the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election, three seats went to Centre Party, and the Finns Party, the Left Alliance, the Social Democratic Party and the National Coalition Party got one seat each.

The votes were distributed as follows:

• Centre Party 29.20%
• Finns Party 17.19%
• Left Alliance 14.16%
• Social Democratic Party 13.51%
• National Coalition Party 11.26%
• Green League 9.72%
• Movement Now 1.99%
• Christian Democrats 1.08%
• Seven Star Movement 0.67%
• Blue Reform 0.48%
• Swedish People's Party 0.11%
• Other parties 0.63%

Sámi homeland

The northernmost municipalities of Lapland where the Sámi people are the most numerous form the Sámi homeland. Sámi organisation exists in parallel with the provincial one.

Transport

Roads

Three European roads pass through Lapland: E8, E63 and E75, the latter of which runs almost 600 km from the southernmost municipality of Simo to the northernmost municipality of Utsjoki.

Airports

Kemi-Tornio, Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo and Enontekiö airports are located in Lapland. The flight time from Helsinki is about 1,5 hours.

Railways

In the western part, the Laurila–Kelloselkä railway runs from Tornio to Kolari, and the eastern line runs from Keminmaa via Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi to the eastern border of the country at Salla's Kelloselkä.

Notes

References

References

1. [http://stats.oecd.org/ Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional GDP per Capita], OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.
2. "Land of the Midnight Sun".
3. (2017-12-02). "Polar Night - The most magical time of the year {{!}} Only in Lapland".
4. (2020-02-17). "Infographic: 10 facts about tourism in Lapland 2019".
5. (15 September 2021). "Kourtney Kardashian, Lionel Messi, Ed Sheeran… 15 international celebrities that have visited Finnish Lapland". Arctic Guesthouse & Igloos.
6. Salavirta, Pihla. (23 December 2025). "Maailmantähdet löysivät Lapin – Gordon Ramsayn vierailu toi uuden kysyntäpiikin". [[Helsingin Sanomat]].
7. "Traffic statistics {{!}} Finavia".
8. (2019-11-19). "Infographic: Distribution of Lapland's Industry {{!}} Business Lapland".
9. "Statistics and publications".
10. [https://www.discoveringfinland.com/finnish-lapland/inari-saariselka/ Tourism Inari – Saariselkä – Utsjoki – Ivalo] - Discovering Finland
11. [https://www.inari.fi/en/for-travellers-2.html For travellers: Inari-Saariselkä tourism region] - Inari.fi
12. Gettleman, Jeffrey. (15 April 2025). "Santa Lives in Rovaniemi, Finland. Some of His Neighbors Are Not Thrilled.". [[The New York Times]].
13. Geiling, Natasha. "Where Does Santa Live? The North Pole Isn't Always the Answer".
14. Chowdhury, Shamim. (12 December 2024). "Santa Village Locals Demand Controls Amid Tourism Boom". [[Newsweek]].
15. (12 December 2024). "No room at the inn? Locals say holiday rentals are overtaking Santa Claus' hometown". [[Euronews]].
16. (13 December 2024). "Overtourism has hit Santa's village, say Finnish locals". [[CNN Travel]].
17. Kato, Brooke. (14 December 2024). "Santa Claus 'hometown' suddenly overrun with tourists — and locals are protesting in the streets: 'It's not anymore in control'". [[New York Post]].
18. "Suomen pinta-ala kunnittain 1.1.2016". National Land Survey of Finland.
19. "Lake Inari".
20. "Mount Halti".
21. Lindberg, Johan. (February 2, 2011). "Lappland".
22. (2009). "Multi-phase development of a glaciated inselberg landscape". [[Geomorphology (journal).
23. (1985). "Problems concerning the origin of inselbergs in Finnish Lapland". [[Fennia (journal).
24. (2008). "Patterns of Quaternary ice sheet erosion and deposition in Fennoscandia and a theoretical framework for explanation". [[Geomorphology (journal).
25. (2013). "Cenozoic microfossils in northern Finland: Local reworking or distant wind transport?". [[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]].
26. (2002). "Glacial inception and Quaternary mountain glaciations in Fennoscandia". [[Quaternary International]].
27. (2005). "Weichselian stratigraphy, geomorphology and glacial dynamics in southern Finnish Lapland". [[Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland]].
28. (2016). "Deglaciation of Fennoscandia". Quaternary Science Reviews.
29. (2005). "Precambrian Geology of Finland". Elsevier Science.
30. Peltonen, P.. (2005). "Precambrian Geology of Finland". Elsevier Science.
31. (2012). "Mineral deposits and metallogeny of Fennoscandia". [[Geological Survey of Finland]].
32. "Snow statistics". Finnish Meteorological Institute.
33. "Sääennätyksiä". Finnish Meteorological Institute.
34. "Present climate – 30 year mean values". Finnish Meteorological Institute.
35. (11 January 2026). "Thousands of tourists stranded in northern Finland as deep freeze halts flights". [[Associated Press.
36. Phillips, Aleks. (12 January 2026). "Thousands of tourists stranded in Lapland as cold grounds flights". [[BBC News]].
37. "Seasons in Finland - Finnish Meteorological Institute".
38. Benke, Erika. (25 July 2025). "Santa feels the heat as Lapland buckles in Finland's record-breaking heatwave". [[BBC News]].
39. (31 December 2009). "New regional administration model abolishes provinces in 2010". Sanoma Corporation.
40. (19 December 2022). "Lapin suhdannekatsaus 2021". Lapin luotsi.
41. (October 2025). "Vuosittaiset yöpymiset ja saapuneet asuinmaittain muuttujina Alue, Maa, Vuosi ja Tiedot".
42. "Statistics Finland – Statistical databases".
43. [https://www.kuntaliitto.fi/tilastot-ja-julkaisut/kaupunkien-ja-kuntien-lukumaarat-ja-vaestotiedot/kuntien-pinta-alat-ja-asukastiheydet Kuntien pinta-alat ja asukastiheydet – Kuntaliitto] (in Finnish)
44. (February 2020)
45. "PX-Web - Valitse muuttuja ja arvot".
46. "Yle - Tulospalvelu - Lapin vaalipiiri - Eduskuntavaalit 2019 - Yle.fi".
47. [https://www.etaisyys.com/etaisyys/utsjoki/simo/ Utsjoki–Simo eäisyys] – Etaisyys.com (in Finnish)
48. "How to get to Lapland". Lapin liitto.
49. (July 2025). "Tornio-Kolari -rataosuuden parannustyö". VR Rata.
50. "Tasoristeysten turvallisuus rataosalla Kemijärvi–Kelloselkä". VTT.