Tampere (Swedish: Tammerfors) is a city in Finland and the
provincial center of Pirkanmaa, located on the shores of Lake
Näsijärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi. Tampere is the third largest
municipality in Finland in terms of population and the second
largest urban area in Finland and its neighboring municipalities.
Tampere is also the largest inland city in the Nordic countries in
terms of population. The city of Tampere has a population of 238,671
and the center of Tampere 330,711 inhabitants. The population of the
Tampere metropolitan area, which includes seven districts in
addition to Tampere, on 31 December 2019 was 393,941.
The
most central part of Tampere's city center is located in the lake
and ridge area on the isthmus between Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi,
through which Tammerkoski flows from Näsijärvi to Pyhäjärvi.
Tammerkoski's waterfall is 18 meters high. The red-brick factory
buildings on its shores tell the story of Tampere's industrial
history. Tampere is historically Finland's first and largest
industrial city. The Tammerkoski rapids landscape has been named one
of Finland's national landscapes. Gustav III founded Tampere in
1779, but the city did not begin to grow until after the mid-19th
century, when it became a major industrial center. The textile
industry in particular was large. Since then, industrial production
has moved out of the city, and Tampere's economy has focused on
services and high-tech companies.
Tampere is also a city of
culture and sports. Tampereen Teatteri and Tampereen Työväen
Teatteri, one of the oldest theaters in Finland, operate there.
There are many museums and exhibitions in the Vapriikki Museum
Center, but the most important tourist destination is the
Särkänniemi amusement park. In popular culture, Tampere is
especially known for the music style named Manserock. Black sausage
is considered a local dish. Several main sports teams play in
Tampere, and the city is often considered the “cradle” of Finnish
hockey. The city's own teams are Ilves and Tappara.
Tampere
and its environs belong to the historical province of Satakunta. The
area belonged to Häme County from 1831 to 1997, and over time it has
often been considered to belong to Häme as a province. For example,
in the New Encyclopedia published in the 1960s, the Tampere region
is presented as part of the then Häme province. Around the 1950s,
Tampere and its surroundings began to establish itself as their own
province of Pirkanmaa. Tampere became the center of Pirkanmaa, and
in the early days of the province, Tammermaa was also used several
times in its early days - for example, in the Finland Handbook
published in 1968.