Vaasa

Vaasa is a city on Finland's west coast in the Ostrobothnia region, with about 71,209 residents as of 2025, the 14th most populous municipality in the country. Founded by King Charles IX of Sweden on 2 October 1606 near the earlier settlement of Korsholm and named after the Swedish royal House of Vasa when it received its charter in 1611, it briefly served as the seat of the Senate of Finland for White Finland forces during the 1918 Finnish Civil War, earning it the nickname the White City; today it is a bilingual hub, with about 62 percent Finnish speakers and 23 percent Swedish speakers, and functions as the most significant cultural center for Finland's Swedish-speaking minority.