Vaasa was granted its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden, and is named after the Royal House of Vasa.

As a result, the Swedish language maintains a strong position in the city, making it the most significant cultural center for Swedish-Finns.

[10][11][12] Vaasa is also home to Tropiclandia Water Park, located on Vaskiluoto Island adjacent to a local spa hotel.

[13] The now disassembled Wasalandia Amusement Park, which ceased operations in 2015 due to a small number of visitors, was located in the immediate vicinity of Tropiclandia.

At first it was called Mustasaari or Mussor after the village where it was founded in 1606, but just a few years later the name was changed to Vasa to honor the royal Swedish lineage.

In the middle of the century, Saint Mary's Church was built, and in the 1370s the building of the fortress at Korsholm, Crysseborgh, was undertaken, and served as an administrative centre of the Vasa County.

King Charles IX of Sweden founded the town of Mustasaari/Mussor on 2 October 1606,[1] around the oldest harbour and trade point around the Korsholm church approximately seven kilometres (4.3 miles) to the southeast from the present city.

Generalmajor Demidov suspected that the inhabitants of Vaasa had taken to arms and helped the Swedish forces, even though the provincial governor had confiscated all weapons that spring, and he took revenge by letting his men plunder the city for several days.

During those days 17 civilians were killed, property was looted and destroyed, many were assaulted and several people were taken to the village of Salmi in Kuortane where they had to endure the physical punishment called running the gauntlet.

The massacre in Vaasa was exceptional during the Finnish war as the Russian forces had avoided that kind of cruelty that far.

On 30 June the Russian forces withdrew from Vaasa, and all officials that had pledged allegiance to Russia were discharged, and some were assaulted by locals.

On 13 September the Russian forces returned and on the next day the decisive Battle of Oravais, which was won by Russia, was fought some 50 kilometres (30 mi) further north.

By winter 1808, the Russian forces had overrun all of Finland, and in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn (17 September 1809) Sweden lost the whole eastern part of its realm.

A fire started in a barn belonging to district court judge J. F. Aurén on the morning of 3 August.

The ruins of the greystone church, the belfry, the town hall and the trivial school can still be found in their original places.

According to popular belief, the fire got started when a careless visitor from Vörå fell asleep in Aurén's barn and dropped his pipe in the dry hay.

To express its gratitude to the town the Senate gave Vaasa the right to add the Cross of Freedom, independent Finland's oldest mark of honour designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to its coat of arms, to the town's coat of arms.

Post-war, Vaasa was industrialized, led by the electronics manufacturer Strömberg, later merged into ABB.

Near the Polar Circle, Vaasa falls in continental subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc) with severe dry winters and almost warm summers.

[21] The Föhn wind, for example, passes over the Scandinavian Mountains and leaves a milder and drier weather in the lee of the mountains where Vaasa is found, affecting especially in the winter which explains sunny days even in the season of short solar duration.

The location of some sea distance gives a seasonal delay of spring and summer at the same time that autumn and winter are affected late.

Finnair and Scandinavian Airlines operate from Vaasa Airport,[36] but Norwegian Air Shuttle terminated the Vaasa–Helsinki route on 10 January 2020.

Daily passenger and cargo traffic between Vaasa and Umeå is operated by shipping company Wasaline.

Unique to Vaasa is the Finland-Swedish teachers training school Vasa övningsskola, part of Åbo Akademi.