Itä-Häme is the eastern part of the historical province Tavastia in Finland. It is in Päijänne Tavastia, Southern Savonia and Central Finland.
Leivonmäki National Park is in Itä-Häme.
Itä-Häme is also known by manufacturing of sahti.
Despite being a part of Tavastia, only the dialect of Heinola is a Tavastian dialect. The dialects of the other municipalities are Savonian dialects of the Päijänne subgroup, a group of Savonian dialects with Tavastian influence; for example, they lack the type of consonant gemination found in most other Savonian dialects (e.g. the partitive form of kala "fish" is kaloa, not kalloa/kalloo).[1]
Most of the area may have adopted a Savonian dialect due to the Cudgel War, in which many of the original Tavastian inhabitants of the area were killed, allowing Savonians to settle in the area. Despite this, the people of the area still see themselves as Tavastians.[2]