Vaasa – the sunniest city in Finland
In Vaasa the past and the present meet: local enterprises, distinctive cultural life, two languages, international industry and the tranquility of a small town. The town's leafy avenues, the large parks that surround the public buildings, and the green shoreline, go to make up a restful whole. The warmth of the town's welcome is felt everywhere, in its bustling market, its business life and its friendly service.
Due to short distances, Vaasa is an easy place to live. Available dwellings are to be found both in the city centre and in suburban areas close to good services. Vaasa has good connections with the outside world, international winds of change reach the town quickly. Vaasa is the biggest town in the area with circa 59 000 inhabitants 70 % Finnish-speaking, 25 % Swedish-speaking and 5 % with other languages as their mother tongue.
Vaasa provides work for a diversified range of experts. There are enterprises working especially within the energy sector, metal industry and the chemical and plastic industry. Vaasa region’s employment rate is the second best in Finland.
Proportioned to the population, Vaasa is the largest school town in Finland. Statistically, every fifth person in Vaasa is a student at a polytechnic or a university. There are approx. 12 000 students in the seven higher education institutions in Vaasa. A wide range of degrees, multilingualism, and internationalism are among the strengths of the polytechnics and universities in Vaasa. There are more than 30 degree programmes in Finnish, Swedish, or English, and there is lively exchange of students and researchers with polytechnics and universities abroad.
Vaasa provides several alternatives for people interested in different leisure activities: sports halls, gyms, many outdoor courts, ski tracks, conditioning tracks, and a 27-hole golf court. For outdoor and keep-fit enthusiasts there are many opportunities of walking routes, jogging tracks, trails and outstanding long cycle paths along the seashore. Innumerable clubs, societies and many courses offer versatile interests from visual arts to parachute jumping.
A City of music, theatre, dance, art and handicraft ensures events all year round. Choose music from rock, jazz and pop to opera and symphony concerts. See the art museums’ enormous art treasures from the Golden Age to contemporary art, take a closer view of handicraft villages and Vaasa’s 400 year history, or get acquainted with the Kvarken nature and have theatre experiences from dramas to musicals. Tempting delights for shopaholics are provided by many shopping centres an galleries in the city centre and in the Kivihaka area.
More information about Vaasa: www.vaasa.fi