Vaasa Province (Finnish: Vaasan lääni [ˈʋɑːsɑn ˈlæːni]; Swedish: Vasa län, Finland Swedish: [ˈvɑːsɑ ˈleːn], Sweden Swedish: [ˈvɑ̂ːsa ˈlɛːn]; Russian: Вазаская губерния) was a province of Finland, established in 1775 when Finland was an integrated part of Sweden from the southern part of Ostrobothnia County and disbanded in 1997. The province was named after the city of Vaasa.
On the death of Tsar Nicholas I in 1855, a small group of citizens in the city of Vaasa tendered a petition to change the name of the city after him. The name of the city came from the Royal House of Vasa and despite that only 15 citizens were backing the proposal the name of the city was changed to Nikolaistad (Russian: Николайстада, Finnish: Nikolainkaupunki). However, the name of the province was not changed.
In 1960 the eastern part was separated as the Province of Central Finland. In 1997 it was reunited with Central Finland, together they merged with the northern part of the Province of Häme and the Province of Turku and Pori to establish the new Province of Western Finland.
The former province corresponds to the current regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Southern Ostrobothnia.
Governors
Bror Cederström 1775–1785
Adolf Tandefeldt 1785–1794
Carl Fridrik Krabbe 1794–1805
Magnus Wanberg 1805–1808
Nils Fredric von Schoultz 1808
Carl Constantin de Carnall 1808–1822
Herman Henrik Wärnhjelm 1822–1830
Gustaf Magnus Armfelt 1830–1832
Carl Gustaf von Mannerheim 1832–1833 (acting) and 1833–1834
Carl Olof Cronstedt 1834–1837 (acting) and 1837–1845
John Ferdinand Bergenheim 1845–1847
Berndt Federley 1847–1854
Alexander von Rechenberg 1854–1858
Otto Leonard von Blom 1858–1861
Carl Gustaf Fabian Wrede 1862–1863 (vt.) and 1863–1884
Viktor Napoleon Procopé 1884–1888
August Alexander Järnefelt 1888–1894
Waldemar Schauman 1894–1898
Gustaf Axel von Kothen 1898–1900
Fredrik Geronimo Björnberg 1900–1903
Theodor Knipovitsch 1903–1906
Kasten Fredrik Ferdinand de Pont 1906–1910
Bernhard Otto Widnäs 1910–1913
Nikolai Sillman 1913–1916
Leo Aristides Sirelius 1916–1917
Juho Torppa 1917 (acting)
Teodor August Heikel 1917–1920
Bruno Sarlin 1920–1930
Erik Heinrichs 1930
Kaarlo Martonen 1930–1938
Jalo Lahdensuo 1938–1943
Toivo Tarjanne 1943–1944
K. G. R. Ahlbäck 1944–1967
Martti Viitanen 1967–1977
Antti Pohjonen 1977–1978
Mauno Kangasniemi 1978–1991
Tom Westergård 1991–1997