Vaasa

Introducing Vaasa

Located at the slender waist of the Gulf of Bothnia and a bare 45 nautical miles from Sweden, it's no surprise that a cultural duality exists in Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa). A quarter of the population here speak Swedish as their first language, and the city has a feel all of its own. You'll hear conversations between friends and colleagues in restaurants and bars flitting between Finnish and Swedish, often in the same sentence, but, even after centuries, it still feels a little like a border town that is torn between two masters.

We're beyond the 63rd parallel here - in the Southern Hemisphere we'd have reached bits of Antarctica - and in the minds of many southern Finns, this is already 'The North'. Thus, although Vaasa isn't huge, it feels like a metropolis compared to the much smaller settlements around. It has a lively, bustling air, and is a popular family holiday destination in summer, thanks to its waterside location and adventure park. The surrounding countryside and nearby islands are easily accessible; in spring, nesting waterbirds crowd its shorelines, and you feel the wilderness is never that far away.

The town began in the 14th century as a village called Korsholm. In 1606 Swedish King Charles IX created Vasa, named after the royal Swedish Wasa family. The original town was located 7km east of modern Vaasa but, like all respectable Finnish wooden settlements, it burned down in a Great Fire; the new city was begun in the mid-19th century. During the Civil War that followed Finnish independence, Vaasa was the scene of heavy fighting, and an important base of the Whites, monarchists loyal to the existing government fighting against the workers' rebellion.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009