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IASSIST/IFDO 2009: Tampere, Finland May 26th-May 29th, 2009

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latest update 2009-04-24

About Tampere and Finland

Tampere Hall - Conference Venue

Tampere Hall is the leading congress center in Finland. It is located in Sorsapuisto park, just across the street from the University of Tampere. It is just a few minutes walking distance away from the main conference hotels, railway station and Tampere city centre. » Tampere Hall website

Tampere - Manse for short

Tampere has a population of 205,000, making it the second largest city in Finland. However, Tampere still manages to feel like a small town. Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres, the Tammerkoski rapids linking them has been an important power source throughout history.

Tampere was founded in 1779 by Gustavus III, King of Sweden, on the banks of the Tammerkoski Rapids. During the 19th century Tampere evolved into the most higly industrialised locality in Finland, which gave it the nickname "Manchester of the North", Manse for short. Today, with its two universities, two polytechnics and numerous educational and research institutes, Tampere is also a significant centre of education, research and high-tech industries.

» Tampere Tourist Information website
» Tampere in Wikipedia
» City of Tampere - webcams

Finland - Land of the Thousand Lakes

Situated in the far northeast of Europe, Finland (Suomi in Finnish) is a quiet, peaceful and socially stable country. Formerly part of Sweden and from 1809 an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, Finland declared its independence in 1917. Today, Finland is a democratic, parliamentary republic and has been a member of the European Union since 1995. Finland adopted the European common currency, the euro, in 2002.

Finland has a population of 5.2 million. Covering an area of 338,000 square kilometres, the average population density is 17 people per square kilometre. 65% of Finns live in towns or urban areas, 35% in rural areas. Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish. Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language, is spoken by 93% and Swedish by 6% of the population. Sami (Lappish) is the mother tongue of about 1,700 people. Most Finns have a good command of English, which makes it easy for the foreigner to visit the local shops, restaurants and hotels.

Finland is also known as the land of a thousand lakes - at the last count there were as many as 188,000.

» Finnish Tourist Board website

Weather - Irregular Rains and Summer Light

The main factor influencing Finland's climate is the country's geographical position between the 60th and 70th northern parallels in the Eurasian continent's coastal zone, which shows characteristics of both a maritime and a continental climate, depending on the direction of air flow.

The Finnish climate is characterised by irregular rains caused by rapid changes in the weather. During 1971-2001, the average rainfall in May was 39 mm, the highest being 94 mm and the lowest just 0.5 mm. Here's what to expect in May in Tampere:

1971–2001 Average mean Average max Average min Abs. max Abs. min
Celsius 9 14 3 28 -9
Fahrenheit 48 57 38 82 16

In late May, the darkness has already given way to the magnificent summer light: the sun rises already at 4 am and does not set until at 10.30 pm!

» Tampere 5 day weather forecast