Tampere

Tampere

Tampere (/?tæmp?re?/, US also /?tæmp?r?, ?t??mp?re?/,[8][9] Finnish: [?t?mpere] (About this soundlisten); Swedish: Tammerfors [t?m?ær?fors?] (About this soundlisten); Latin: Tammerforsia[10]) is a city in Pirkanmaa in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries; it has a population of 238,140 with the urban area holding 334,112 people[11] and the metropolitan area, also known as the Tampere sub-region, holding 385,301 inhabitants in an area of 4,970 km2 (1,920 sq mi).[12] Tampere is the second-largest urban area[13] and third most-populous individual municipality in Finland, after the cities of Helsinki and Espoo and the most populous Finnish city outside the Greater Helsinki area, within which both Helsinki and Espoo are located. Today, Tampere is one of the major urban, economic, and cultural hubs in the whole inland region.[14]

Tampere and its environs belong to the historical province of Satakunta. The area belonged to the Tavastia Province from 1831 to 1997, and over time it has often been considered to belong to Tavastia as a province. For example, in Uusi tietosanakirja published in the 1960s, the Tampere region is presented as part of the then Tavastia 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 Suomi-käsikirja published in 1968.[15] Tampere is wedged between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity.[16] Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of the North" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse"[1] and terms such as "Manserock".[17][18][19] Also, Tampere has been officially declared the "Sauna Capital of the World", because it has the most public saunas in the world.[20][21][22][23]

Helsinki is approximately 160 kilometres (100 mi) south of Tampere, and can be reached in 1 hr, 31 minutes by Pendolino high-speed rail service[24] and 2 hours by car. The distance to Turku is roughly the same. Tampere–Pirkkala Airport is Finland's eighth-busiest airport, with over 230,000 passengers in 2017.[25] Tampere also serves as an important transit route for three Finnish highways: Highway 3 (E12), Highway 9 (E63) and Highway 12.

Tampere ranked 26th in the list of 446 cities in the world's hipster cities,[26] and it has often been rated as the most popular city in Finland.[27]

By 2021, a new multi-purpose sports and entertainment center, Tampere Deck Arena, is nearing completion.[28] The arena will serve as the main venue for the 2022 IIHF World Championship.