Editing Rovaniemi (section)

==History==
Periodic clearance of new land for [[agriculture]] and the practice of [[slash-and-burn]] cultivation began around 750–530 BC. Artifacts found in the area suggest that an increasing number of travellers from [[Karelia]] in the east, Häme in the south and the [[Arctic Ocean]] coast in the north must have come there from 500 AD onwards. The [[Sami people|Sami]] are indigenous to [[Sápmi]].

Rovaniemi is first mentioned by name in official documents in 1453, existing as a set of small villages whose inhabitants earned their living mainly in agriculture and animal husbandry—with fishing and hunting the most important offshoots.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

The exploitation of Lapland's [[natural resources]] in the 1800s boosted Rovaniemi's growth. Extensive logging sites and gold fever attracted thousands of people to Lapland. As the [[mining]] of natural resources was increased, Rovaniemi became the business centre of the province of Lapland.

The township decree was promulgated on 27 June 1928, as a result of which Rovaniemi seceded from the [[Rovaniemen maalaiskunta|old rural municipality]] as its own market town on 1 January 1929.<ref>[https://www.lapinkansa.fi/tallaista-oli-elama-rovaniemen-kauppalassa-ennen-k/493640 Tällaista oli elämä Rovaniemen kauppalassa ennen kuin siitä tuli kaupunki – lapsia oli niin paljon, että koulut olivat tupaten täynnä, teiden kunnosta naristiin ja ulkopaikkakuntalaiset rötöstelivät] – ''Lapin Kansa'' (in Finnish)</ref>

===World War II===
{{Main|Battle of Rovaniemi}}
[[File:Rebuilding Rovaniemi in 1949.webm|thumb|left|Rebuilding Rovaniemi in 1949]]
During [[World War II]], Finland signed the [[Moscow Armistice]] on 19 September 1944 and was required to expel forces of its former German ally. In the [[Lapland War]] retreating German forces utilised [[scorched earth]] tactics, and though initially German General [[Lothar Rendulic]] ordered only the public buildings in Rovaniemi to be destroyed, on 13 October 1944, the German army received orders to destroy all the buildings in Rovaniemi,<ref name="nytimes"/><ref name="watts-guardian"/> only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present.<ref name="sk">Suomen Kuvalehti 39/2004</ref>

While the German rearguard was going about the destruction, an [[ammunition train]] in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered many casualties, mainly from glass splinters. During these hostilities, 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed.<ref name="watts-guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/19/the-dark-history-of-santas-city-how-rovaniemi-rose-from-the-ashes-alvar-aalto|title=The dark history of Santa's city: how Rovaniemi rose from the ashes|first=Peter|last=Watts|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=19 December 2018|access-date=11 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="kallioniemi">Kallioniemi 1989, s. 196–209</ref> There is a German cemetery 19&nbsp;km from Rovaniemi where soldiers killed fighting in Lapland during the war are buried.

Although there has been continuous human settlement in the Rovaniemi area since at least the [[Stone Age]], few of the buildings date back before 1944, since most of the city was destroyed during World War II. When the city was rebuilt, it was designed with input by the Finnish [[architect]] [[Alvar Aalto]],<ref name="nytimes"/><ref name="watts-guardian"/> who planned the city's footprint in the shape of a [[reindeer]]'s head, with the city roads forming the [[antlers]], and the local sports stadium as the reindeer's eye.<ref>{{cite web |title=There's So Much To See In The Capital Of Finnish Lapland |website=Nordic Visitor |language=en |url=https://lapland.nordicvisitor.com/travel-guide/attractions/rovaniemi/}}</ref>