Vaasa

Vaasa (Finnish:; Swedish: Vasa, Finland Swedish:), formerly (1855–1917) known as Nikolaistad (Finnish: Nikolainkaupunki; lit.'city of Nicholas'), is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia, located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. Vaasa city has approximately 71,000 inhabitants, while the Vaasa sub-region has a population of approximately 112,000. It is the 14th-most populous municipality in Finland, and the tenth-most populous urban area in the country.

The settlement developed from 1606 near Korsholm; King Charles IX of Sweden granted Vaasa its municipal charter in 1611, naming the town after the Swedish royal House of Vasa. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918, Vaasa briefly served as the capital of White Finland and hosted the Senate of Finland.

The city has several institutions of higher education: the University of Vaasa, the Vaasa University of Applied Sciences, the Novia University of Applied Sciences, and some faculties of the Åbo Akademi University, the University of Helsinki, and the Hanken School of Economics.

Vaasa is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 62% Finnish speakers, 23% Swedish speakers, and 15% speakers of other languages. The municipalities surrounding Vaasa, such as Korsholm and Malax, have a clear majority of Swedish speakers. As a result, the Swedish language maintains a strong position in the city, making it the most significant cultural center for Swedish-Finns.