GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

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.