Vaasa Province Explained

Native Name:Vaasan lääni
Vasa län
Conventional Long Name:Province of Vaasa
Common Name:Vaasa
Subdivision:County
Nation:Sweden 1775–1809
Province of Grand Duchy of Finland 1809–1917
Province of independent Finland 1917–1997
Year Start:1775
Year End:1997
P1:County of Ostrobothnia
Flag P1:Flag of Sweden.svg
S1:Province of Central Finland
Flag S1:Flag of Finland.svg
S2:Western Finland
Flag S2:Flag of Finland.svg
Capital:Vaasa
Stat Year1:1.1.1993
Stat Area1:27319
Stat Pop1:448384
Title Leader:Governor

The Province of Vaasa (in Finnish pronounced as /ˈʋɑːsɑn ˈlæːni/;, pronounced as /sv-FI/, Sweden in Swedish ˈvɑ̂ːsa ˈlɛːn/) was a province of Finland, established in 1775 when Finland was an integrated part of Sweden from the southern part of Ostrobothnia County and disbanded in 1996. The province was named after the city of Vaasa.

On the death of Tsar Nicholas I in 1855, a small group of citizens in the city of Vaasa tendered a petition to change the name of the city after him. The name of the city came from the Royal House of Vasa and despite that only 15 citizens were backing the proposal the name of the city was changed to Nikolaistad (Russian: Николайстада, Finnish: Nikolainkaupunki).

In 1960 the eastern part was separated as the Province of Central Finland. In 1997 it was reunited with Central Finland, together they merged with the northern part of the Province of Häme and the Province of Turku and Pori to establish the new Province of Western Finland.

The former province corresponds to the current regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Southern Ostrobothnia.

Municipalities in 1997 (cities in bold)

Former municipalities (disestablished before 1997)

Governors

63.1°N 21.6167°W