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== Understand ==
Rovaniemi, the business center of Finnish Lapland since the 19th century, was razed to the ground by the Germans in the final days of World War II with only a handful of buildings left standing. Rebuilding after the war and economic development over the ensuing decades have left much of the city a featureless expanse of concrete blocks, regardless of Alvar Aalto's famous reindeer antler city plan (try to recognize it if arriving by plane). Rovaniemi became a city in 1960, and in 2006 it merged with the surrounding, vast rural municipality, making it the largest by area city in the Europe. Today there are 63,000 inhabitants of which about 52,000 live in urban areas.
Most tourists arrive because of Rovaniemi's central position for transportation, because of its location at the Arctic Circle or to see the Father Christmas himself, but there are several other sights worth a visit.
Because of its central location and status as a provincial capital, Rovaniemi has become a center of education in Finnish Lapland. The {{marker|name=University of Lapland|url=https://www.ulapland.fi/EN|lat=66.4853|long=25.7143}} and {{marker|name=Lapland University of Applied Sciences|url=https://www.lapinamk.fi/en|lat=66.4808|long=25.7222}} have about 10,000 students in total. Compared to the number of inhabitants living in the old city area (pre-2006), as many as one out of five people are university level students. During summers this shows as a large drop in the number of people vacating the city. On the other hand, during the Christmas holidays most people you'll see downtown are tourists.
The Lapland Air Command of the Finnish Air Force has their base and garrisons on the "far side" of the airport some 10 kilometers north from the city. For a visitor this soon realizes as their F/A-18 Hornets are a vital part of the acoustic environment. At the airport the fighters and other military air traffic use the same runways as commercial traffic and there are no limitations to take photos.
The river ''Kemijoki'', notable for being the longest river in Finland, flows by the city center. On the east side of the river there is a large, forested hill called {{marker|name=Ounasvaara|lat=66.5022|long=25.7791}} which is the hub for outdoors activities. At Ounasvaara you will find for example a winter sports resort, golf course, and a nature trail network. ▼▲The river ''Kemijoki'', notable for being the longest river in Finland, flows by the city center. On the east side of the river there is a large, forested hill called {{marker|name=Ounasvaara|lat=66.5022|long=25.7791}} which is the hub for outdoors activities. At Ounasvaara you will find for example a winter sports resort, golf course, and a nature trail network.
==Get in==
== Get around ==
Being not to big a town (the radius is about a kilometre), the best way to get around the centre quickly is by foot. The area of the municipality is huge though. Some of the attractions are far away and buses are sparse; most households have a car.
=== By public transport ===
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