Northern Finland

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.

Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Rovaniemi and Oulu.

Rovaniemi

Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC0.

Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, is the capital, transport hub and main commercial centre of Lapland, Finland's northernmost province. The city is 2,613 km south of the North Pole.

Oulu

Photo: Ä Vinnis Persön, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Oulu is the biggest city in Northern Finland, with about 210,000 inhabitants. Once known for wood tar and salmon, Oulu has become a major high-tech centre, particularly in IT and wellness technology.

Kajaani

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Kajaani is a town and municipality in Finland and the administrative capital of the Kainuu region. It lies south-east of Oulujärvi, which drains to the Gulf of Bothnia along Oulujoki.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Finnish Lapland and Kainuu and Eastern Oulu region.

Finnish Lapland

Photo: MattiPaavola, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Finnish Lapland is the Arctic far north in Finland, strictly defined as the province of the same name, but in practice starting near the Arctic Circle.

Kainuu and Eastern Oulu region

Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC0.

Kainuu is a region in Northern Finland. For practical purposes, the easternmost parts of Northern Ostrobothnia are also included in this article. Natural landscapes are omnipresent – this is the region where people go to see wildlife of the deep forests.

Southern Oulu region

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

The Southern Oulu region is in Northern Finland. This flat region doesn't contain any large cities or well-known sights so most people just pass through it when traveling between northern and southern Finland.