Häme

Häme (Swedish: Tavastland, Latin: Tavastia) is the name of a geographical region in Finland. It is an ancient Finnish word, etymologically related to sápmi, the endonym of the Sami people. Häme can refer to:

In historical contexts:

• Tavastia (Häme) – a historical province of Sweden (Historical provinces of Finland)
• County of Nyland and Tavastehus (Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni) – a county of Sweden, 1634 – 1809
• Governorate of Nyland-Tavastehus (Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni) – a governorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland, Russia, 1809 – 1831
• Governorate of Tavastehus (Hämeen lääni) – a governorate of the Grand Duchy of Finland, Russia, 1831 – 1917
• Häme Province (Hämeen lääni) – a province of Finland, 1917 – 1997

In contemporary contexts:

• the Tavastian dialects, or Häme dialects (hämäläismurteet), of the Finnish language
• the Tavastians, or Häme people (hämäläiset), a subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people
• Häme, an often vaguely defined area of Finland associated with the Tavastian dialects and Tavastian cultural features on one hand and with the above-mentioned historical province of Tavastia on the other; the most prominent parts of contemporary Häme are:
  • Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme) – a region of Finland
  • Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) – a region of Finland
  • Pirkanmaa – a region of Finland (historically, most of this area belonged to Satakunta, but today it is strongly associated with Häme)
  • Central Finland – a region of Finland (historically, most of this area unambiguously belonged to Tavastia, or Häme, but today the association is weaker)

See also

• 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
  • Hämeenkyrö, a municipality in Pirkanmaa
  • Hämeenlinna, the administrational centre of Tavastia Proper
    • Häme Castle (Hämeen linna), a medieval castle in Hämeenlinna
  • Hämeentie, the longest street in Helsinki; streets bearing the same name can be found elsewhere in Finland as well
• the provinces of Finland into which the regions of the Häme Province were merged in 1997:
  • Southern Finland (1997 – 2009)
  • Western Finland (1997 – 2009)
• people whose names include the element Häme or its genitive form Hämeen:
  • Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, a Finnish specialist of the Arabic language and Islamic studies
  • Virpi Hämeen-Anttila, a Finnish writer
• people with the surname Hämäläinen (“Tavastian”)