Province of Vaasa Vaasan lääni Vasa län |
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County of Sweden 1775–1809 Province of Grand Duchy of Finland 1809–1917 Province of independent Finland 1917–1997 |
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Capital | Vaasa | ||||
History | |||||
• | Established | 1775 | |||
• | Disestablished | 1997 | |||
Area | |||||
• | 1.1.1993 | 27,319 km2(10,548 sq mi) | |||
Population | |||||
• | 1.1.1993 | 448,384 | |||
Density | 16.4 /km2 (42.5 /sq mi) |
Coat of arms
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.
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.