Information about Lapland

Lapland is known as an Arctic region, but the people of Lapland have a warm heart and a spirit of co-operation.

In our brand work, our basic mentality and special characteristics have been compacted into five themes:

The most international region in Finland

The province of Lapland has three territorial borders: with Norway (more than 700 km), Sweden (more than 600 km) and Russia (almost 400 km). Lapland is known to be borderless: business is carried on across borders, people commute from one country to another, and you can go to school in the neighbouring country. In addition, Lapland’s tourism, industry, and research, training and innovation activities (RTI) have brought thousands of new residents to Lapland from throughout the world.

The most accessible Arctic region

Lapland is the northernmost region of Finland. The distance from Simo, the southernmost municipality of Lapland on the shore of the Bay of Bothnia, to Nuorgam in Utsjoki at the top of Finland is more than 500 kilometres. The area of Lapland, 100,366 square kilometres, is almost one-third of the total area of Finland.

At the same time, Lapland is among the most sparsely populated areas in our country: just under 180,000 residents (in 2017) account for about three per cent of Finland’s population. This means that in Lapland there is an abundance of space to live and breathe the air that has been proven to be the purest in the world.

Compared with other Arctic regions, Lapland is exceptionally accessible in both the digital sense and by air, rail and road. There are five airports in Lapland. The flight time from Helsinki to Rovaniemi is about 1 hour 15 minutes. You can also take a comfortable journey by night train from Southern Finland to Lapland.

Read more about visiting Lapland

Nature is omnipresent in Lapland

They say that Lapland has strange magic that calms your mind, heightens your senses and invigorates you at the same time. Nature is omnipresent in Lapland, from the wilderness to villages and from tourist centres to the heart of towns.

The unique qualities of the potent nature of Lapland are valued highly. Nature’s goods and the riches of the forests are utilised in the most responsible way possible in tourism, the food industry, mining and forestry, and in reindeer husbandry. Plants in Lapland have been shown to be the cleanest in the world and, due to the Arctic growing conditions, they are true super plants.

Lapland is located in the middle and northern boreal zones. The landscape varies from the hilly forest regions of Southern Lapland to the rugged mountain areas in the north, and from the seashore meadows of the Gulf of Bothnia to the vast aapa mires of Central Lapland.

Hear what Lapland sounds like

In addition to the longest river in Finland, Kemijoki, several large rivers run through the Lappish landscape, such as Tornionjoki in the west, Ounasjoki in the east, Tenojoki in the north-west and Simojoki in the east.

Although the average annual temperature in Northern Lapland does not rise above zero, you can also enjoy hot days in the summer. Finland’s record for the lowest temperature was broken in Pokka in Kittilä in January 1999 when the temperature plummeted to -51.5 degrees centigrade.

Jäänmurtaja Samo öisellä talvimerellä.

Lapland – the northernmost point of the EU

Lapland is the most international region of Finland, and not only because it is a popular tourist destination. Together with its neighbouring countries, Sweden to the west and Norway to the north, Lapland has more than 1,000 kilometres of open river and land border and almost 400 kilometres of border with the eastern neighbour, Russia.

Historically, people have travelled with reindeer from the fells of Lapland to summer pastures from the shores of the Arctic Sea, with trading taking place from the Kola Peninsula to the ports of Sea Lapland along the shores of the Bay of Bothnia. Unrestricted.

Lapland is the northernmost point of the EU at the heart of the so-called Barents area. Expertise and cooperation networks are utilised freely in the area, with practical examples being the rescue and training cooperation with Sweden and Norway.

Sami land

The borderless Sami land, i.e. the traditional Sami territory of Sápmi, extends from northern Norway via Sweden and Finland all the way to north-west Russia. There are about 10,000 Sami inhabitants in Finland.

Today, more than 60 per cent of Sami people live outside their native locality, for example, in Rovaniemi, Oulu, and in the Helsinki region. The three Sami languages spoken in Finland are Northern Sami, Skolt Sami, and Inari Sami. More information about Sami people is available on the website of the Sámi Parliament.

The people of Lapland

In 2017, the total population of Lapland was about 180,000. In the past few years, the number of residents in Lapland has fallen moderately, with the exception of some individual municipalities. The number of residents of foreign origin has increased. In addition to tourism, the biggest employers in Lapland are basic industry (e.g. steel, paper, mining, small industry) and public organisations, such as municipalities.

The people of Lapland not only have the traditional seasons, but the four main seasons are interspersed by four in-between seasons with descriptive names: frosty winter, spring of crusted snow, ice break-up spring, midnight sun, harvest time, colourful autumn, first snow, and Christmas darkness.

Read more about living and working in Lapland

Economy

The outlook for local economy in Lapland is bright. The driving economic forces in the region are industry and tourism. The bioeconomy sector is also growing rapidly in Lapland. The value of exports from Lapland is almost 4 billion euros, representing about seven per cent of the value of goods exports of the whole of Finland. The majority of exports come from industry in the Sea Lapland region.

Total annual demand for tourism in Lapland has been about one billion euros, about half of which is demand from international visitors. Thousands of people work in tourism each year as permanent employees and temporary recruits. The residents of Lapland also benefit from indirect impacts of tourism, e.g. with respect to the availability of services. The coronavirus pandemic has punished especially the tourism sector in Lapland.

Read more about Business opportunities in Lapland

Arctic conditions have called for creativity, determination, and a sense of humour of the people of Lapland. Today, this Arctic expertise and bold ideas are utilised, for example, in the design of products and services, and they have become one of the key assets for Lapland’s exports.

Arctic Smartness clusters implementing smart specialisation have been established in order to develop Lapland’s Arctic expertise and the natural strengths of the region.

Read more about Lapland’s smart specialisation

Lapin 21 kuntaa kartalla

Lapland’s region and municipalities

The 21 municipalities of Lapland can be grouped into six sub-regions: Eastern Lapland, Kemi-Tornio, Northern Lapland, Rovaniemi region, Torne Valley, and Fell Lapland.

Get to know the municipalities of Lapland