Kemijärvi

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Church of Kemijärvi

Location on Finnish map

Kemijärvi (Inari Sami: Kemijävri, Northern Sami: Giemajávri) is a municipality of Finland and the northern-most city in Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of 9,759 and covers an area of 3,929.7 km² of which 427.56 km² is water. The population density is 2.837 inhabitants per km².

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

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

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, 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 are of the municipality is an ancient sacrificial place of Samis.

Kemijärvi has a railway station, with passenger train services to Rovaniemi (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 The direct overnight train service between Kemijärvi and Helsinki was controversially withdrawn in September 2006, with VR (Finnish Railways) stating that its new sleeping car trains could not operate with the diesel locomotives needed for the non-electrified railway north of Rovaniemi.[1] 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, 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 and brown trout. Also, currently Kemijärvi is the northernmost known lake in Finland with an indigenous population of zander (also known as walleye or pikeperch). Other popular summer pastimes besides fishing are hiking, trekking, boating and hunting.