Vasa

VASA, or NIKOLAISTAD, in the grand duchy of Finland, capital of the province of Vasa, on the east coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, 327 m. by rail north-west of Helsingfors. Pop. (1904) 18,028. It has two classical lyceums for boys and three for girls, a school of navigation, and a large number of primary schools. There is a shipyard and a considerable export trade. Vasa was founded on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia in 1606, but after the great fire of 1852, as the sea had already receded for a considerable distance, the town was rebuilt nearer to the shore and received the official name of Nikolaistad. The population of the province (1904) was 295,187.