City of Tampere

General Information

Tampere region (population 430,000) is the country's second largest regional centre after the Greater Helsinki Area. The city itself is situated on the Tammerkoski Rapids between two large lakes, the distance from Helsinki being some 180 kilometres. The city was founded in 1779 by Gustav III, King of Sweden, for purposes of industry and commerce. Tampere became the largest centre of the textile industry in the Nordic countries. The two hundred years since then have seen the Tampere profile change towards high technology, including Nokia Mobile Phones and Nokia Telecommunications. Today Tampere is beautiful, clean and safe, celebrated for its theatre, opera and musical life, international short film festivals and other cultural activities. Finland has one of the most comprehensive university networks in Europe, and Tampere has several institutions of higher education. The University of Tampere, founded in 1925, is the largest of these, with some 14,000 students. Engineering and Architecture are offered in the Tampere University of Technology, and students having a place at one institution may take courses at the other. Tampere is also home to two non-university sector institutions of higher education, Tampere Polytechnic and Pirkanmaa Polytechnic. Languages are studied extensively in Tampere schools - Swedish, English and French from kindergarten right up to adult education.

Outside links:

City of Tampere - Official pages of the city of Tampere, in English
http://www.tampere.fi/english_v/

iTampere.info - netportal mainly addressed to foreigners interested in Tampere and Finland. The site provides a collection of information and discussion somehow connected to everyday life as well as several services intended to be used by the general public.
http://www.itampere.info/

Maps - Map and Gis Services
http://www.tampere.fi/ytoteto/kartta/index_en.html

Tampere Region
http://www.pirkanmaa.fi/english/

Restaurants in Tampere
http://www.huviopas.net/tampere/restaurants_1.php