Kemi

Kemi is an industrial town dominated by a Metsä Group 1 pulp mill and Veitsiluoto 2 paper mill. The 3 Kemi mine in Keminmaa is the only chromium mine in Europe. The chromium is used in Tornio's stainless steel mill, which was established for this particular reason, 30 km away.

The area surrounding the mouth of Kemijoki has been subject to agriculture at least since the 13th century. The Kemi parish was mentioned in 1329, but it was only in 1856 that Emperor Alexander II of Russia established the town. It was built according to a strict grid plan, which still makes finding places in Kemi centre fairly simple.

A sawmill on the Laitakari island began operating in 1863; the economy of the reborn Kemi was heavily based on logging – the river, the longest in Finland, was used to float timber downstream, especially from the 1890s. Timber floating on Kemijoki ended only in 1991. The railway connected the town to southern Finland in 1903, and in 1939 the harbour moved from the centre to Ajos, about 10 km off-town. Today Kemi has one of the few deep-water harbours in Finland. During the World War II aftermath known as the Lapland War, retreating German troops devastated public buildings, and all the bridges over the Kemijoki river, but left private houses untouched.

In July 1949 the government wanted to cut the wages of lumber workers, who went into a strike against the plans. In August 18th 1949 the strike ended up into a bloody conflict between the police and over 3,000 lumber workers and harbour dockers. This "Bloody Thursday" was the last fatal political protest in Finland.

Due to its labour-activist past Kemi has got fame as a "red town". The Left Alliance and the Social Democratic Party still have the majority in the city council, making Kemi a political curiosity in Finland.

Modern-day Kemi has slightly over 20,000 inhabitants. The population trend is declining.

Visit Kemi, ☏ +358 40-529-8857, VisitKemi@kemi.fi. (updated Oct 2026)

By plane:

1 Kemi-Tornio Airport (KEM IATA) (6 km (3.7 mi) from the city). There is no bus connection from the airport to the centre, but sometimes it is possible to use regular buses that run from the bus stop near the airport (bus stop "Kemi lentoasema"). (updated Oct 2026)

Finnair has one or two daily flights from Helsinki, flights taking about an hour.

By train:

Trains from Rovaniemi take about 1½ hours, while a trip all the way from Helsinki, fairly comfortable if done in a sleeper overnight, is 9 hours.

There is a passenger service from Haparanda in Sweden. No trains run farther, as Sweden uses the European normal gauge. There are sleeper trains from Stockholm and Narvik to Luleå and a connecting bus (free with the InterRail pass) to Haparanda, on the border. If you want to travel by train all the way, there is another operator with trains on that last leg. For the train from Haparanda and other Finnish trains, see VR

2 Kemi train station (Kemin rautatieasema). There are a few lockers available inside the station. A sign also mentions luggage storage at the nearby café Hertta for (a more expensive) €5. (updated Jan 2020)

By bus:

Buses cross the Swedish border at Tornio/Haparanda (30 min), coming from Luleå (2½ hr), to where there are sleeper trains from the south (and from Narvik in Norway). Tapanis Buss has a seasonal route from Stockholm to Tornio going along the coastal E4. Buses from Luleå to Haparanda are free with most rail passes. Direct bus connections to Kemi are available from Helsinki, Oulu, Rovaniemi and Kolari, i.e. from the north, east and south.

3 Kemi bus station (Kemin linja-autoasema) (100 m up the street from the railway station). Tickets can be bought online from Matkahuolto. (updated Jan 2020)

By car: