Vaasa County, Finland Genealogy

Guide to Vaasa ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Vaasa County (Vaasan lääni, Swedish: Vasa län) was formed in 1776 from Ähtäri parish in Turku-Pori County (Turun ja Porin lääni, Swedish: Åbo och Björneborgs län), the northern part of Uusimaa and Häme County (Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni, Swedish: Nyland och Tavastehus län), and the southern part of Ostrobothnia County (Pohjanmaan lääni, Swedish: Österbottens län).In 1960 a portion of the south-eastern part of the county was transferred to Keski-Suomi (Central Finland, Swedish: Mellersta Finlands län) County. In 1969 Virrat parish was transferred to Häme County. The county was dissolved on 1 March 1998 as part of the 1997 Maakuntajakolaki (County Apportionment Act) and became part of Western Finland (Länsi-Suomen lääni, Swedish: Västra Finlands län) County.

Districts
There are eight districts in Vaasa County, they are: Ilmajoki, Korsholm, Kuortane, Laukaa, Lapua, Närpiö, Pietarsaari, and Viitasaari. As is true of all municipalities in Finland, the municipalities of Jyväskylä, Kaskinen, Kokkola, Kristiinanpaupunki, Pietarsaari, Uusikaarleppy, and Vaasa have their own administration and are not part of any districts.

Archives
Vaasan Kansallisarkisto
 * Visiting address: Varastokatu 2
 * Postal address: PL 240, FI-65101 Vaasa
 * Telephone (during the opening hours of the reading room): +358 29 533 7300