Häme

Häme (Swedish: Tavastland, Latin: Tavastia) is the name of a geographical region in Finland. It can refer to:

Places

In Finland

In historical contexts:

• Governorate of Nyland-Tavastehus (Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni), a governorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland, 1809–1831
• Governorate of Tavastehus (Hämeen lääni), a governorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland, 1831–1917
• Häme Province (Hämeen lääni), a province of Finland, 1917–1997
  • the provinces of Finland into which the regions of the Häme Province were merged in 1997:
    • Southern Finland (1997–2009)
    • Western Finland (1997–2009)

In contemporary contexts:

• Häme, an often vaguely defined area of Finland associated with Tavastia; the most prominent regions of contemporary Häme are:
  • Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme)
    • Hämeenlinna, the administrational centre of Tavastia Proper
      • Häme Castle, a medieval castle in Hämeenlinna
  • Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme)
  • Pirkanmaa (historically, most of this area belonged to Satakunta, but today it is strongly associated with Häme)
    • Hämeenkyrö, a municipality in Pirkanmaa
  • Central Finland (historically, most of this area unambiguously belonged to Tavastia, or Häme, but today the association is weaker)
• Place names including the element Häme or its genitive form Hämeen:
  • Hämeenkatu, the main street of Tampere; streets bearing the same name can be found elsewhere in Finland as well
  • Hämeentie, the longest street in Helsinki; streets bearing the same name can be found elsewhere in Finland as well

In Sweden

• Tavastia (Häme), a historical province of Sweden
• County of Nyland and Tavastehus (Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni), a county of Sweden, 1634–1809

Other uses

• the Tavastians, or Häme people (hämäläiset), a subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people
• the Tavastian dialects, or Häme dialects (hämäläismurteet), of the Finnish language
• Häme Regiment, a unit of the Finnish Army located in Lahti