General:

Tampere is the third largest city in Finland with a population of 182000. Tampere is also the heart of the Tampere Region which has a dynamic population of about 430000. In the last few years the city's population has grown rapidly. Tampere is the second largest regional centre in Finland and one of the major city regions in Scandinavia. Besides, Tampere is the largest inland city in Scandinavia.

Connections:

Tampere is located 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Helsinki, the capital. The city has good railroad and road connections from any part of Finland. Tampere can be reached by train from Helsinki every hour. Executive class services are provided in the Intercity trains. There are plans to start superfast train connections between Helsinki and Tampere within a few years. The time used for travelling will shorten from 1h 40 min to 1h 10 min. In addition to the national connections, Tampere has good international road links.

Because Tampere is located geographically on a narrow isthmus, there is a construction of 4-lane freeway system for bypassing traffic in progress. All the main harbours and airports for exports and passenger traffic are within a 200 km (125 miles) radius of Tampere City. The fastest link with continental Europe means a 2-2.5 hour international flight. Tampere has its own international airport, the Tampere-Pirkkala airport.

Commerce, technology and education:

Tampere was founded in 1779 on the bank of the Tammerkoski rapids and it evolved into the most highly industrialized locality in Finland, during the 19th century. The city has mainly subsisted on the textile, clothing, leather and metal industries. Many of Finland's largest international corporations such as Nokia, Valmet, Tampella and Tamfelt have grown up in Tampere region. Tampere continues having modern and competitive industry, but there is also a rapidly growing number of high technology organizations, such as Tampere Technology Centre Hermia.

 In addition to Hermia, The Technical Research Centre of Finland, The UKK Institute of Health Promotion and Research, Finn-Medi Medical Technology Centre and Tampere Automation Center are another examples to mention about the concentration of knowledge and science in Tampere region.

Tampere's new rise is founded on a sure technological base. The high tech institutes of the region, boast an internationally respected level of research. There are more than 600 internationally oriented industrial companies, a dozen of them world market leaders.

A new business park, Tampereen Eteläinen Portti (Southgate of Tampere), is under construction. The business park will offer high quality environment for companies, which base their success on knowledge, cooperation and good location.

Tampere is also well known from the large variety of educational organizations, such as University of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology, Institute of Commerce, Institute of Technology, Institute of Health Care, the Police Academy and many more. The region has a total of 25 vocational training institutes. There are 35000 students in Tampere every year.
Over 40% of the region's population has been educated at the tertiary level in a professional institute or university and 13% has a university degree or similar.
The co-operation and synergy between educational organizations and research commercial centres turns science and knowhow into new business. Thus, The Tampere Region offers competitive opportunities for investments.