Rauma

views updated

Rauma (rou´mä), Swed. Raumo, city (1996 pop. 37,914), Western Finland prov., SW Finland, on the Gulf of Bothnia. It is Finland's leading western port and has wood, paper, chemical, leather, munitions, and lace and embroidery industries. In the late 19th cent. it had one of the largest sailing fleets in Finland. Rauma was a medieval trade center, chartered c.1445. Its 15th-century Franciscan church and the old city hall (1776), now a museum, are outstanding landmarks.