Kemi (Northern Sami: Giepma) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio. It was founded in 1869 by decree of Russian Emperor Alexander II because of its proximity to a deep water harbour.Kemi is situated by the Bothnian Bay, at the mouth of river Kemijoki, and it is part of Lapland region. The town has a population of 21,807 (30 June 2015) and covers an area of 747.44 square kilometres (288.59 sq mi) of which 652.1 km2 (251.8 sq mi) is water.