Kemi (ˈkemi; Giepma ˈkie̯pma; Kiemâ; Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): Kiemi) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovaniemi is to the northeast. It was founded in 1869 by a decree of the Emperor Alexander II of Russia because of its proximity to a deepwater port.
The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which are water. The population density is .
During World War II, after Finland signed the Moscow Armistice and found itself involved in the Lapland War against its former German ally, German forces at the beginning of October 1944 captured 132 Finnish civilian hostages in Kemi (as well as 130 in Rovaniemi) and threatened to kill them unless the Finnish army released the German POWs captured in the Battle of Tornio. However, Finland refused to comply and threatened to retaliate by killing the German POWs. The hostages were released unharmed on October 11, 1944, near Rovaniemi.
Kemi is situated on the Bothnian Bay, at the mouth of the river Kemijoki, and it is part of the Lapland region.
The climate type of Kemi is a typical subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc). It is characterized by long, cold winters and warm, short summers; but because it is on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, the characteristics of its continental climate are not as pronounced as inland areas.
The main economic activity in Kemi is centered on two large paper and woodpulp mills and on the only chromium mine in Europe (which supplies the Outokumpu ferrochrome plant in Tornio).
The Chinese company Kaidi has announced plans to build the world's first second-generation biomass plant in Kemi, scheduled to begin operations in 2019.
In April 2007, the city of Kemi laid off all of its municipal workers for 2 weeks due to the failing economy of the city. Spiraling specialist healthcare costs and a fleeing industry tax base are stated as the cause for the firing. These are the most drastic temporary dismissals to take place in Finland since 2000.
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The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification.
Rovaniemi (ˈrəʊvəni.əmi , ˈroʋɑˌnie̯mi; Roavvenjárga ˈroɑ̯vveˌɲaːrːka; Ruávinjargâ; Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Peräpohjola. The city centre is situated about south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the river Kemijoki and its tributary, the Ounasjoki.