63°06N 21°38E, pop (2000e) 55 000. Seaport and capital of Vaasa province, SW Finland; on the Gulf of Bothnia, 352 km/219 mi NW of Helsinki; established, 1606; destroyed by fire, 1852; rebuilt on present site c.1860; airfield; railway; shortest ferry route between Finland and Sweden; ship repairing, metal products, textiles; Vaasa Festival (Jun), Stundars Feast (Jul).
width: 260px;">| Vaasan kaupunki - Vasa stad | |||||
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| Founded | 1606 | ||||
| Province | Western Finland | ||||
| Region | Ostrobothnia | ||||
| Sub-region | Vaasa | ||||
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Area - Of which land - Rank |
397 km² 183 km² ranked 345th |
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Population - Density - Rank |
57,266 (2005) 311.2 inh./km² ranked 14th |
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| Unemployment | 9.5% | ||||
| Official languages | Finnish, Swedish | ||||
| City Manager | Markku Lumio | ||||
| Home page | http://www.vaasa.fi/ | ||||
Vaasa, or Vasa in Swedish, (Vasa in Latin), is a city on the west coast of Finland.
History
Foundation
The history of Korsholm (Mustasaari in Finnish) and also of Vaasa begins in the 14th century, when seafarers from the coastal region in central Sweden disembarked at the present Old Vaasa, and the wasteland owners from Finland Proper came to guard their land.
In 1683 the three-subject or 'trivial' school moved from Nykarleby to Vaasa and four years later a new schoolhouse was built in Vaasa.
The new town
The new town of Nikolainkaupunki (Nikolaistad in Swedish, after late Tsar Nicholas I) rose in 1862 about seven kilometres to the northwest from the old town.
The town was promptly renamed Vaasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.
Site of Government
During the Finnish Civil War, Vaasa was the capital of Finland from January 29 to May 3, 1918. To express its gratitude to the town the senate gave Vaasa the right to add the cross of freedom, independent Finland's oldest mark of honour designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to its coat of arms.
The city has two Universities of Applied Sciences: Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (former Vaasa Polytechnic), located right next to the University of Vaasa, and Swedish Polytechnic.
Major employers
Vaasa is generally speaking an industrial town, with several industrial parks. There is an university (University of Vaasa), faculties of Åbo Akademi and Hanken, and two Universities of Applied Sciencess in the town.
Major employers, in order:
City of Vaasa ABB — industrial and power electronics and automation equipment Vaasa Central Hospital State institutions Wärtsilä — diesel engines Vacon — frequency converters KWH — pipes TeliaSonera — telephony Vaasa Engineering Posti — mail VLP (Vaasa Area Telephone) Kemira ChemicalsNotable people from Vaasa
Olli Ahvenniemi Fanny Churberg Seppo Evwaraye Marika Fingerroos Rabbe Grönblom Jarl Hemmer Edvin Hevonkoski Mikaela Ingberg Fritz Jakobsson Vesa 'Vesku' Jokinen Mikael Jungner Heli Koivula-Kruger Susanna 'Suski' Korvala Björn Kurtén Joachim Kurtén Toivo Kuula Artturi Leinonen August Alexander Levón Nandor Mikola Jorma Ojaharju Pekka Puska Viljo Revell - Architect, works included Toronto City Hall in Canada. Pekka Strang Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen (Georg Zacharias Forsman) Allu Tuppurainen Jenny Wilhelms Carl Gustaf Wolff Mathilda WredeCooperation cities
As of 2006, Vaasa has town twinning treaties or treaties of cooperation signed with 9 cities.
Maps
Map of Vaasa (English) Clickable map of VaasaMedia
(Finnish) Pohjalainen - local newspaper in Finnish (Swedish) Vasabladet - local newspaper in Swedish (Finnish)/(Swedish) Radio Vaasa - local radiostation (Finnish) Pohjanmaan Radio - Regional public service radio in Finnish (part of Radio Suomi) (Swedish) Radio Vega Österbotten - Regional public service radio in Swedish (part of Radio Vega) (Finnish) Vaasan Ylioppilaslehti - Monthly paper for the students at Vaasa University (Finnish) vaasalaisia.info - Local "townblock" and messageboard.Education
(Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English)/(German) University of Vaasa (Swedish)/(English) Åbo Akademi, Vasa (Swedish)/(English) Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (Swedish)/(Finnish)/(English) Swedish Polytechnic (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) University of Helsinki, Vaasa Unit of Legal Studies (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) Western Finland Design Center MUOVA, University of Art and Design (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) The Tritonia Academic Library (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) Vaasa Consortium of Higher Education (Finnish)/(Swedish)/(English) The Vaasa Region Sports AcademySports
(Finnish) VPS-Vaasa - the biggest football club in Vaasa (Finnish)/(Swedish) Vasa IFK - footboll club (Finnish) FC Kiisto - football club (Finnish)/(Swedish) Vaasan Sport - the biggest hockey club in Vaasa (Finnish) Vaasan Salama - basketball club (Finnish) Vaasan Maila - Finnish baseball club (Finnish) Vaasan Diana-57 - archery club (Finnish) Vaasan keilailuliitto - bowling club (Finnish)/(Swedish) High Sport - climbing club (Swedish) Vasa Idrottssällskap - athletics club (Finnish) Tennis-61 - tennis club (Finnish) Vaasa Saints - ultimate club
Coordinates: 63°06′N 21°36′E
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