LAPLAND Finnish Lapland is a region of around ninety four thousand square kilometres covered by forests and marshland, similar to Swedish Lapland. The local inhabitants live in harmony with nature and the six thousand five hundred Sami people have managed to preserve their unique landscape right up until the present day. Rovaniemi is a modern and lively main town in northern Finland and the gateway to Lapland. The famous Arktikum Museum provides a comprehensive insight into life in the Artic Circle. Two large rivers, the Ounasjoki and the Kemijoki, meet in Rovaniemi from were lumberjacks and gold prospectors once embarked upon their pioneering adventures. Today the city is a centre of tourism. Pajakyla is the home of Santa Claus and is open throughout the year. In the Arctic Circle eight kilometres north of the city is a special attraction that attracts six hundred thousand visitors each year: several tiny log cabins contain Santa's work rooms and a number of his helpers in traditional Lap costume offer a variety of colourful arts and crafts. In Lapland each season of the year has a special charm. The summer months are warm, in autumn the leaves shine out in golden yellow and in winter the landscape is covered with snow and ice. The hilly landscape of the large Pallas Ounastunturi National Park is located in the north west, close to the Swedish border and its treeless slopes make it one of the most popular winter ski resorts in Finland. Lapland is a land of countless myths and legends where remoteness, adventure and romance have managed to survive and where the power of nature is still very much alive.