1775–1997 →
→ Established 1775 1.1.1993 448,384 | Capital Vaasa Disestablished 1997 | |
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1.1.1993 27,319 km (10,548 sq mi) | ||
The Province of Vaasa (Finnish: Vaasan lääni, Swedish: Vasa län) 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.
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Map of Vaasa, Finland
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). This also meant that the Vaasa Province (Russian: Вазаская губерния, Swedish: Vasa län, Finnish: Vaasan lääni) was called the Nikolaistad Province, after 1855. In 1862 a large group of citizens in the city unsuccessfully petitioned to have the old name restored. The new name remained official until 1917, but colloquially the old name continued in use.
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.