Another suggestion links the name to the Swedish word Kvatemberdagar, or more colloquially Tamperdagar, which refers to the Ember Days of the Western Christian liturgical calendar.

[51] The earliest known permanent settlements around Tammerkoski were established in the 7th century, when settlers from the west of the region began to farm land in Takahuhti,[52] an area largely inhabited by the Tavastian tribes.

As farming was forbidden within the city limits, the inhabitants began to rely on other means of earning a living, mainly trade and crafts.

[52] At the same time, the area of the city increased almost sevenfold and impressive apartment blocks were built in the centre of Tampere between modest wooden houses.

[65]: 173 The world-famous Nokia Corporation, a multinational telecommunications company, also had its beginnings in the Tammerkoski area;[66] the company's history dates back to 1865, when Finnish-Swedish mining engineer Fredrik Idestam (1838–1916) established a pulp mill on the banks of the rapids, and a second pulp mill was opened in 1868 near the neighbouring town of Nokia, where there were better hydroelectric resources.

[66] Tampere was the centre of many important political events in the early 20th century, such as the 1905 conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), led by Vladimir Lenin, held in the Tampere Workers' Hall during their flight from Russia, where it was decided, among other things, to launch an armed insurrection that eventually led to the October 1917 revolution in the Russian Empire.

[74] The dominant force in Tampere's municipal politics after the Second World War was the Brothers-in-Arms Axis (aseveliakseli), which consisted mainly of the National Coalition Party and the Social Democrats.

[84] Tampere is part of the Pirkanmaa region and is surrounded by the municipalities of Kangasala, Lempäälä, Nokia, Orivesi, Pirkkala, Ruovesi and Ylöjärvi.

Also along Hämeenkatu is the longest street in the city centre, Satakunnankatu, which runs from Rautatienkatu to Amuri and crosses Tammerkoski via the Satakunnansilta bridge.

The traffic centre of Tampere is the junction of Itsenäisyydenkatu,[e] Teiskontie, Sammonkatu, Kalevanpuisto park road and the Kaleva and Liisankallio districts.

[100][102][103] The Tampere region, Pirkanmaa, which includes outlying municipalities, has around 509,000 residents,[104] 244,000 employed people,[105] and a turnover of 28 billion euros as of 2014[update].

[106] According to the Tampere International Business Office, the area is strong in mechanical engineering and automation, information and communication technologies, and health and biotechnology, as well as pulp and paper industry education.

[110] According to a study carried out by the TAK Research, the total impact of tourism in the Tampere region in 2022 was more than 562 million euros.

Due to the health and social services reform, the statements of municipal and corporation tax revenue or state contributions are not comparable with previous years.

It is a joint project of Tampere, Kangasala, Pirkkala, Ylöjärvi, Lempäälä and Vesijärvi, with a treatment capacity of 100 000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.

[121] The demographic structure of Tampere shows that the city is a very popular place to study, as the number of young adults is significantly higher than in other municipalities in the region.

TUNI is also the major shareholder of the Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu, TAMK), a polytechnic counting about 10,000 students.

The Nurmi district in the northern part of city also houses the Tampere Christian School (Tampereen kristillinen koulu), which operates on a co-Christian basis and is maintained by the Adventist Church of Finland, offering free basic education based on Christian basic values and outlook on life for all grades of primary school.

Kakkoskanava ("Channel 2") has been a major influence in Tampere, and several well-known television programs and series have been shot in the city,[92] such as TV comedies Tankki täyteen, Reinikainen and Kummeli.

Today, Yle operates as a tenant in its old premises, which in 2013 was transformed into a hub for visual media production companies and training institutes called Mediapolis.

It is a black sausage made by mixing pork, pig's blood and crushed rye and flour and is stuffed into the intestines of an animal.

[156] Since 1991, the two-day fish market event (Tampereen kalamarkkinat) in Laukontori attracts as many as 80,000–100,000 visitors in year, and is held both in the spring on vappu and in the autumn on Tampere Day.

[167] Local cinemas also included the historic Imatra, formerly located in the Kyttälä district, which was completely destroyed on a fire in the midst of a 1924 film Wages of Virtue on 23 October 1927, killing 21 people.

[169][170] English services of the International Congregation of Christ the King (ICCK) are organized by the Anglican Church in Finland and the Lutheran Parishes of Tampere.

[175][176] This rivalry is largely expressed in jokes in one city about the other; prominent targets are the traditional Tampere food, mustamakkara, the state of the Aura River in Turku, and the regional accents.

Since 1997, students at Tampere have made annual excursions to Turku to jump on the market square, doing their part to undo the post-glacial rebound and push the city back into the Baltic Sea.

The museum is housed in the Tampere Workers' Hall (along Hallituskatu) where during a subsequent Bolshevik conference in the city, Lenin met Joseph Stalin for the first time.

[13] Ratina Stadium of Tampere, in the district by the same name, has served as the venue for many of the most significant concerts, most notably in connection with the Endless Forms Most Beautiful World Tour in 2015 by the band Nightwish.

Recently, Tampere was the host of the 10th European Youth Olympic Festival on 17–25 July 2009[218] and the 2010 World Ringette Championships on 1–6 November at Hakametsä arena.

Every day about 150 trains with an annual total of 8 million passengers arrive and depart in the Tampere Central Railway Station, which is located in the city center.