Vaasa (in Swedish Vasa ) is a city west of the Finland, located at 420 km of the capital Helsinki, on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, in the province of Western Finland. It is the capital of the area of Ostrobotnie. Vaasa counts nearly 58.000 inhabitants (89 000 in the agglomeration). The city is officially bilingual and counts the strongest proportion of suédophones among the 15 Finnish cities of more than 50.000 inhabitants.
History
Founded at the 14th century by Swedish sailors around the castle of Korsholm ( Mustasaari in Finnish), the city develops as from the 17th century, thanks to fleurissement of the trade. August 3rd 1852, whereas the city counts 3.200 inhabitants and became a significant administrative center, the old city out of wooden is almost completely destroyed by a fire (only 24 buildings out of 379 will survive fire). In 1862, the city is rebuilt approximately seven kilometers in the North-West of the initial site, by taking account of the retreat of the sea related to the Isostasie. The new city is baptized Nikolainkaupunki in the honor of the Russian tsar Nicolas I {{er}}, the Finland being a Russian province. In 1917, the city is renamed Vaasa, after the inversion of Nicolas II. During the civil war which followed the Russian Révolution, Vaasa was the capital of the state of Finland from January 29th to May 3rd 1918.
Geography
Located in a very plane area, the city is surrounded by common rural to majority suédophones, Korsholm and Malax. The commune comprises many islands and 211 km ² of sea.
Twinnings
Gallery
| Random links: | Quake II | That-on-Aisne | Jacques Maury | Tías (Las Palmas) | Pontelandolfo |