Kemijärvi is a municipality of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and the northern-most town in Finland. It is located in the province

Provinces of Finland

The state of Finland consisted of six provinces between the years 1997 and 2009. The provincial authority was part of the central government's executive branch, not directly elected. The system was created in 1634, and its makeup was changed drastically in 1997, when the number of the provinces...

 of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 is PD/km2.

Surrounding municipalities are Pelkosenniemi in the north, Salla in the east, Posio in the south and Rovaniemi in the west.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

.

Villages located in the area of the municipality of Kemijärvi are Halosenranta, Hyypiö, Isokylä, Joutsijärvi, Juujärvi, Kallaanvaara, Kostamo, Leväranta, Luusua, Oinas, Perävaara, Ruopsa, Räisälä, Sipovaara, Soppela, Tapionniemi, Tohmo, Ulkuniemi, Varrio and Vuostimo.

The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika Halonen

Paavali Halonen

Paavali Halonen was a farmer and settler in Finnish Lappland and a fabled warlord during Russo-Swedish War .King Gustav I promoted Finnish settlement beyond the Russian border of the realm, by promising taxation reliefs to the settlers. This was in order for the king to be able to have claims for...

, who moved, from region of Oulu, from Niskakylä, Utajärvi to Kemijärvi about 1580. His wife was Anna Laurintytär Halonen and their children were Paavo, Olli and Pekka Halonen. Paavali's place of residence is known today as Halosenranta. As the first settlers moved to Kemijärvi, the area wasn't inhabited by the Sami people anymore, but Ämmänvaara in the area of the municipality is an ancient sacrificial place of Samis.

The Kemijärvi railway station

Kemijärvi railway station

Kemijärvi railway station is located in Kemijärvi, Finland.As of 2010 VR operates one overnight passenger train service from Kemijärvi to and from Helsinki Central railway station...

 has passenger train services to Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...

 (connecting with the overnight services to or from Helsinki). The direct overnight train service between Kemijärvi and Helsinki was controversially withdrawn in September 2006, with VR

VR Group

VR or VR Group is a state-owned railway company in Finland. Formerly known as Suomen Valtion Rautatiet until 1922 and Valtionrautatiet / Statsjärnvägarna until 1995...

 (Finnish Railways) stating that its new sleeping car

Sleeping car

The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...

 trains could not operate with the diesel locomotives needed for the non-electrified railway north of Rovaniemi. As of summer 2007, the future of Kemijärvi's overnight train services seems more assured; the Ministry of Transport and Communications and VR have reached an agreement concerning partial public funding of the service.

The Eastern Lapland area where Kemijärvi is situated is well known for the nearby skiing resorts Suomu

Suomu

Suomu is an alpine ski resort in the Lapland province of Finland, near the municipality of Kemijärvi. The resort is a regular venue for FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup events....

, Luosto, Pyhä and Salla, as well as Ruka in Kuusamo region. The beautiful Lake Kemijärvi, next to the city of Kemijärvi, is much appreciated as a place to visit during summertime. Lake Kemijärvi, a part of the Kemi river, is surrounded by hills and large forests. Common fish species found include pike, perch

Perch

Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

 and brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

. Also, currently Kemijärvi is the northernmost known lake in Finland with an indigenous population of zander

Zander

Zander is a species of fish. The scientific name is Sander lucioperca , and it is closely allied to perch. Zander are often called pike-perch as they resemble the pike with their elongated body and head, and the perch with their spiny dorsal fin. Zander are not, as is commonly believed, a pike and...

 (also known as walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

 or pikeperch). Other popular summer pastimes besides fishing are hiking, trekking, boating and hunting.

Friendship cities

Kandalaksha

Kandalaksha

Kandalaksha is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, beyond the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ; -History:The settlement has existed since the 11th century...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 Sōbetsu

Sobetsu, Hokkaido

is a town located in Usu District, Iburi, Hokkaidō, Japan.As of 2007, the town has an estimated population of 3,046 and a density of 17.93 persons per km². The total area is 205.04 km².Sōbetsu has been twinned with Kemijärvi, in Finland since 1993....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (since 1993) Vardø

Vardø

is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

External links

• Town of Kemijärvi – Official website
• PDF map of Kemijärvi