Kanta-Häme (), sometimes referred to by the obsolete Tavastia Proper ( sv, Egentliga Tavastland) or as the Häme region, is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

( / ) of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. It borders the regions of

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The reg ...

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme an ...

Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme () is a region in Southern Finland south of the lake Päijänne. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, South Savo and Kymenlaakso. The biggest city in the region is Laht ...

, and

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of ...

is the largest urban area in the region. There are two other

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

that have township status:

Riihimäki Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...

and

Forssa Forssa is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located almost in the centre of a triangle defined by the three largest major cities in Finland (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere), in the Tavastia Proper region, and which is crossed by Highway 2 ...

Historical provinces

The region of Kanta-Häme has been inhabited since the Stone Age. The first written mention of the historical Tavastia province is found in the Chronicle Of Novgorod, in reference to a military campaign launched by Prince Vladimir in 1042.  The region had been ruled by the Swedes since the late 13th century, when Birger Jarl led the Second Crusade against the inhabitants of historical Tavastia province. In the 14th century, Häme became a fiefdom, whose administrative seat was Häme Castle. When Finland was taken from Sweden by the Russians in 1809, Tavastia proper also became part of the Russian Empire. Russian rule ended in 1917. ''For more history, geography and culture see:

Tavastia (historical province) Tavastia ( non, Tafæistaland; sv, Tavastland; fi, Häme; Old Russian ''Ямь'' or ''Емь'') is a historical province in the south of Finland. It borders Finland Proper, Satakunta, Ostrobothnia, Savonia and Uusimaa. Administration Fr ...

Municipalities

The region of Tavastia Proper is made up of 11

, of which three have city status (marked in bold). Forssa sub-region: * Forssan vaakuna

**Population: * Humppilan vaakuna

Humppila Humppila is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Tavastia Proper in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is wate ...

**Population: *

Jokioinen (Jockis) **Population: * Tammela

Tammela **Population: * Ypäjä

Ypäjä Ypäjä is a municipality located in the countryside of South-Western Finland. It belongs to the province of Southern Finland and the region of Tavastia Proper. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. T ...

**Population: Hämeenlinna sub-region: * Hattula

Hattula **Population: *

(Tavastehus) **Population: *

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of ...

**Population: Riihimäki sub-region: *

Hausjärvi Hausjärvi is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Oitti. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

**Population: * Loppi vaakuna

Loppi Loppi (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the city of Hämeenlinna. Loppi was founded ...

(Loppis) **Population: *

**Population:

Heraldry

Kanta-Häme uses the arms of the old historical province Tavastia.

Culture

Kanta-Häme region is well known for the preserved tradition of brewing

sahti Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper in addition to, or instead of, hops;

Politics

Results of the

2019 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 14 April 2019. For the first time, no party received more than 20% of the vote. The Centre Party, which had been the largest party following the 2015 elections, dropped to fourth place, losing 18 sea ...

in Tavastia Proper: *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

24.82% *

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

19.72% *

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

18.95% * Centre Party 10.41% * Left Alliance 8.81% *

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the pol ...

7.99% *

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

5.22% *

Movement Now Movement Now ( fi, Liike Nyt , sv, Rörelse nu) is an economically liberal political party in Finland. It was founded by then- National Coalition Party (NCP) member of parliament (MP) Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo and seven other people as a polit ...

1.58% * Seven Star Movement 0.61% *

Blue Reform The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The n ...

0.42% *

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

0.19% *Other parties 1.28%

References

External links

Official Kanta-Häme region websiteVisit Häme website of the region (In English)
{{Authority control Southern Finland Province Regions of Finland