Tampere

Tampere (, also US: , Finnish: [ˈtɑmpere] (listen); Swedish: Tammerfors [tamɛrˈfɔʂː] (listen)) is a city in Pirkanmaa, southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. Tampere has a population of 235,615 with the urban area holding 334,112 people and the metropolitan area, also known as the Tampere sub-region, holding 385,301 inhabitants in an area of 4,970 km2. Tampere is the second-largest urban area and third most-populous individual municipality in Finland, after the cities of Helsinki and Espoo. It's also the most populous Finnish city outside the Greater Helsinki area and a major urban, economic, and cultural hub for central Finland.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. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock".Helsinki is approximately 160 kilometres (100 mi) south of Tampere, and can be reached in 1h 31m by Pendolino high-speed rail service 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.