Tampere, located in southern Finland between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, and founded as a market place on the banks of the Tammerkoski channel in 1775 by Gustav III of Sweden, is granted full township status in 1779.

The two lakes differ in level by eighteen meters, and the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, are to be an important power source throughout the town’s history.