Tourism and mining the solution for Arctic Finland
The population is ageing, unemployment is on the rise and growth perspectives slim. The only way out for Finnish Lapland is the development of tourism and mining, mayor of the town of Salla argues.
Salla Mayor Kari Väyrynen says to newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that only tourism and mining can help the remote Finnish region develop. Over the last 45 years, the population in the region, which accounts for a third of the surface area of Finland, has declined by 26,000 individuals. Young people move out and few newcomers are there to fill their places. In the next 30 years, the number of men over the age of 85 will be nearly six times what it is now. In Salla, one in every four residents are now unemployed. Lapland is the home of about 3,6 percent of Finland’s population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in the region are Rovaniemi, Kemi, and Tornio. Of the more than 185 000 inhabitants, less than five percent are Sami people.
