As long as a thousand years ago, the Sami (indigenous people of Lapland) inhabited Lapland and made their living through hunting and fishing. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place depending on the best places to catch fish and hunt. During this time permanent settles were making their homes towards the southernmost part of Lapland and settling in one place permanently. By 1792 settlers were spreading out across Finland and agriculture was becoming more prominent in the southernmost parts of Finland and levels of livestock began to grow significantly. Wealthier inhabitants began building larger houses alongside the Rivers which allowed them to be closer to the big catches. During this time, the southernmost part of Lapland was inhabited by wealthy peasants with many of them spreading out into the middle parts of Finland. The sami people were mainly confined at this time to the Northernmost parts of Lapland and they mainly relied on fishing and hunting to earn a living.
Lapland and all parts of Finland suffered a severe famine during 1862 and many people relocated to the Northern parts of Finland. After the severe Famine, animal Husbandry became more important than agriculture. During the 1900s the importance of forestry became evident and provided the people of Finland and Lapland with much needed work. Forestry was also responsible for creating huge growth and Rovaniemi especially benefited from these changes.
After the war Lapland once again saw inhabitants move back towards the southernmost parts of Lapland and around the 1960s tourism began to grow rapidly in Lapland.
Today Lapland is Finland's biggest tourist location and many of the villages in Lapland rely heavily on tourism for an income. Reindeer herding is still practiced and many locals combine Reindeer husbandry with tourism.