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Rovaniemi
Finland
Rovaniemi, city, northern Finland, at the junction of the Kemi and Ounas rivers, northeast of Tornio, on the Arctic Circle. Incorporated in 1929, it became the administrative centre of Lappi in 1939, when the government of Lapland was reorganized. Road building between 1920 and 1940 spurred its development, but near the end of World War II the retreating Germans virtually destroyed it. The new city, designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, is a striking contrast to the other settlements in northern Finland. Industry has developed in the area, and the city, which is connected by rail to southern Finland ...(100 of 172 words)