Kanta-Häme (; ), sometimes referred to as Tavastia Proper, is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

(, ) of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It borders the regions of

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland (, ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ('','' ) of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regional capital and most populous city is Tu ...

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), 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 and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

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

, and

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; 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, Helsinki, alo ...

. Before the official adoption of the name ''Kanta-Häme'' in 1998, the region was commonly known as Häme.

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

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

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

that have township status:

Riihimäki Riihimäki (; ) 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 Helsinki, Tampere and La ...

and

Forssa Forssa is a Cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, 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 Prop ...

Historical provinces

The Kanta-Häme region has been inhabited since the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. The first written mention of the historical province of Tavastia 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 Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

since the late 13th century, when

Birger Jarl Birger Jarl or Birger Magnusson (21 October 1266) was a Swedish statesman and regent, ''Swedish jarls, jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjälbo, who played a pivotal role in consolidating Sweden after the civil wars between the House of Eri ...

led the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

against the inhabitants of the historical province of Tavastia. In the 14th century, Häme became a fiefdom with

Häme Castle Häme Castle or Tavastia Castle (, ) is a medieval castle in Tavastia Proper, Finland. It is located in Hämeenlinna, the city between Helsinki and Tampere. Originally located on an island, the castle now sits on the coast of lake Vanajavesi. ...

as its administrative seat. When Finland was taken from Sweden by the

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

in 1809, Tavastia itself became part of the Russian Empire. Russian rule ended in 1917.

Heraldry

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

Geography

The landscape of Kanta-Häme has many of the characteristics of

Finnish Lakeland Finnish Lakeland or the Finnish lake district ( , "Lake Finland", ) is a large landscape region in central eastern Finland. The hilly, forest-covered landscape of Lakeland Finland's lake plateau is dominated by drumlins and by long sinuous es ...

. The province belongs almost entirely to the

Kokemäenjoki The Kokemäenjoki (" Kokemäki River", ) is a river in southwestern Finland. Geography The river originates at Lake Liekovesi in the Pirkanmaa region, and flows to the Gulf of Bothnia at Pori in the Satakunta region. Primary tributaries of the ...

water basin. The largest lake is Lake Vanajavesi, which receives water from

Lammi Lammi (, also ) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 2009-01-01. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality had a population of 5,507 (2 ...

Hausjärvi Hausjärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Oitti. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper regions of Finland, region. The municipality has ...

Loppi Loppi (; , also ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kanta-Häme regions of Finland, region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 mil ...

and

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki. Janakkala is located along Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. To the south, Janakkala shares a bo ...

from the southeast. The north-eastern part of the province belongs to the so-called Hauho route, whose waters flow into Vanajavesi through

Pälkäne Pälkäne () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which . The population density is . Onkkaala is the adm ...

and

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has ...

. In addition to Lake Vanajavesi, the largest lakes in this region are Lake Kuohijärvi, Lake Pyhäjärvi, Lake Iso Roinevesi, Lake Hauhonselkä, Lake Ilmoilanselkä and Lake Lehijärvi in Hattula. In the southwestern part of the province, Lake Loimijoki rises in the Tammela and Forssa areas and flows through Loima and Huittisten into Kokemäenjoki. The largest lake in the southwestern part of Häme is Lake Pyhäjärvi in Tammela, where the Loimijoki originates. In

and the southern part of Lope, the headwaters of River Vantaanjoki flow south into the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

. Torronsuo and Liesjärvi National Parks are located in Kanta-Häme, both in the southwest of the province in Tammela.

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;

Municipalities

The region of Kanta-Häme consists of 11

, three of which have city status (marked in bold).

Municipalities on the map

Sub-regions

Forssa sub-region Forssa sub-region is a subdivision of Kanta-Häme and one of the sub-regions of Finland since 2009. Municipalities

Sub-regions of Finland Geography of Kanta-Häme {{Finland-geo-stub ...

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

Jokioinen Jokioinen () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Tavastia Proper regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

(''Jockis'') * Tammela

Tammela *

Ypäjä Ypäjä is a municipalities of Finland, municipality located in the countryside of South-Western Finland. It belongs to the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and the regions of Finland, region of Tavastia Proper. The municipalit ...

Hämeenlinna sub-region Hämeenlinna sub-region is a subdivision of Kanta-Häme and one of the sub-regions of Finland Sub-regions (, ) are divisions used for Statistics, statistical purposes in Finland. The country is divided into 69 sub-regions, which are formed b ...

Hattula Hattula () is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper region and until 2010 it was located in the province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surrounded by Hämeenlinna, only in the north it shares the border w ...

(''Tavastehus'') *

Riihimäki sub-region Riihimäki sub-region is a subdivision of Kanta-Häme and one of the sub-regions of Finland Sub-regions (, ) are divisions used for Statistics, statistical purposes in Finland. The country is divided into 69 sub-regions, which are formed by g ...

Municipalities listed

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 Finnish parliamentary election, 2015 elections, ...

in Kanta-Häme: *

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 Form ...

24.82% *

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

19.72% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

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

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

7.99% *

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

5.22% *

Movement Now Movement Now (MN; , Liik; , RN) is an economic liberalism, economically liberal List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It was founded by then-National Coalition Party (NCP) member of parliament Hjallis Harkimo, Harry ...

1.58% * Seven Star Movement 0.61% *

Blue Reform The Finnish Reform Movement (, Korj), previously known as Blue Reform (), was 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 p ...

0.42% *

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant in ...

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