Rovaniemen maalaiskunta

Rovaniemen maalaiskunta () was a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It merged with the city of

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, 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 Per� ...

on January 1, 2006. It was located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Lapland. The municipality had a population of 21,803 and covered an area of 7,915.51 km² of which 409.06 km² was water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 2.9 inhabitants per km². The municipality surrounded the town of

. In 2004 the two municipalities decided to unite into one municipality. The new municipality was formed on January 1, 2006 with the name ''Rovaniemen kaupunki'' (the city of Rovaniemi). The new municipality has a population of approximately 57,000. With an area of 7,900 km² it is the largest city in Finland and Europe. Rovaniemi Populated places disestablished in 2006 Former municipalities of Finland {{Lapland-geo-stub