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Finland
Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Northern Finland comprises Finnish Lapland and the provinces of Kainuu and Northern Ostrobothnia. This region is very sparsely populated even for Finland – while it covers almost half of the country it has a population only slightly larger than that of Helsinki.
Lapland is geographically the largest province in Finland and the most popular destination outside the southern coast. Located mostly north of the Arctic Circle it offers midnight sun, polar nights, skiing, reindeer, Sami culture, really cold winters and of course Santa Claus.
The eastern part of the former Oulu province borders Russia and could be described as a mixture of Lapland and Karelia while the population largely concentrated in the historical town centre Kajaani. If you've come to Finland to see bears and wolves, this region is a good choice.
The southernmost part of Northern Finland is actually located in the centre of Finland. A flat region with its many rivers, it's mostly overlooked by travellers, who often just pass through it. It gives you a good picture of the rural part of the country.
Bordering the Bay of Bothnia, the coastal part of Northern Finland comprises some notable cities and towns like Oulu and Raahe.
There are several daily flights from Helsinki to Oulu and Rovaniemi around the year, and also flights to smaller airports like Kajaani, Kemi-Tornio, Kuusamo, Kittilä and Ivalo.
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The fifth largest city in Finland and by far the biggest city in the region is a known university city and a technology hub. It is compact, yet offers a lot to see and do. The second busiest airport in Finland and an important transportation hub.
The capital of Finnish Lapland has the famous Santa Claus Village and the Arctic Circle. It is a university town, one of the most important tourist destinations and the hub for transport in Lapland, with the third busiest airport of Finland and the terminus for most trains to north.
The city of the snow castle and icebreaker cruises.
Border town and international dual city with the Swedish Haparanda across the nearly invisible border. There are lots of shops on both sides of the border. An easy way to be able to say you visited Sweden as well.
A smaller city in the region of Kainuu, which is known for its forests and marshlands. The city itself has the ruins of an old castle.
A ski resort town near the Russian border.
A small wilderness town famous for its bears (not beers) and wolves. International chamber music event in July.
A smaller town that got attention as the old wooden church was burned down by an arsonist in 2016. Today a new church is built. One of the Finnish railway hubs.
Enontekiö (North Sami: Eanodat, Inari Sami: Iänudâh, Swedish: Enontekis; also known as nickname the Arm of Finland (Finnish: Suomen käsivarsi)) is a large, sparsely populated municipality in the north-western arm of Finnish Lapland. The municipality includes part of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park, a number of designated wilderness areas as well as all peaks of more than 1000 m in Finland, among them the highest peak Halti at 1,324 m (4,344 ft) above sea level.
The northernmost village of the European Union.
good services near the roads and large backcountry wilderness.
even better services, and somewhat closer to Rovaniemi.
vast backcountry. Together with the Øvre Anárjohka National Park in Norway Lemmenjoki forms one of the largest roadless wilderness areas in Europe.
small but impressive national park with an amethyst mine
hiking route Karhunkierros is the most popular hiking route in Finland
Riisitunturi National Park is in the southern part of Finnish Lapland near Posio. The park covers an area of 77 km² and represents the fell and hill landscapes in Koillismaa.
maritime national park in the northernmost corner of the Baltic Sea
Pudasjärvi is a town and municipality Northern Ostrobothnia, in Northern Finland, with Syöte National Park and the Iso-Syöte ski resort.
tiny national park with impressive post-glacial formations
huge winter sports resort and prominent hub of nightlife (Kittilä, North-west Lapland)
Ruka is a ski resort and village near Kuusamo in the Oulu province of northern Finland. Ruka ski resort is the second most popular ski resort in Finland based on the number of skier days per winter.
Ylläs is a popular ski resort in the municipality of Kolari in Finnish Lapland.
Formerly there was a Pyhätunturi ski resort in Salla as well. Now that one is known as Sallatunturi Pyhä or Pyhätunturi is a holiday resort and skiing centre mostly in the Pelkosenniemi municipality in Finnish Lapland.
largish winter sports centre by Urho Kekkonen National Park (Inari, North-east Lapland)
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