Mustasaari

Korsholm (Mustasaari in Finnish) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Mustasaari parish in 1604 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 17 239 (2003) and covers an area of 3 606 km2 of which 2 759 km2 is water. The population density is 20.8 inhabitants per km2.

The municipality is bilingual, with a majority (73%) being Swedish and a minority (27%) Finnish speakers.

Korsholm has a history that can be dated back to 1348. In that year Mustasaari was mentioned for the first time in writing in a royal letter concerning freedom of commerce. Therefore the municipality celebrated its 650th anniversary in 1998. In the mid 1300s Saint Mary's Church was built in Mustasaari island. The municipality got its Swedish name in the year 1927 from the Korsholm Castle (Chrysseborg) from which the whole of Ostrobothnia was governed for hundreds of years. The ruins of Saint Mary's Church and Korsholm Castle are now in old town of Vaasa. Korsholm municipality consists of five smaller municipalities that were merged in the 1970's: Korsholm (Fi. Mustasaari) in the center, Replot (Fi. Raippaluoto) and Björköby in the far archipelago, Solf (Fi. Sulva) in the southern plain and Kvevlax (Fi. Koivulahti) in the eastern plain. To reflect the new, larger municipality the motif in the Korsholm coat of arms is five intertwined golden threads on a red background.

Finland's longest bridge, the Replot Bridge, can be found in this municipality. It connects the island of Replot (Raippaluoto in Finnish) to the mainland. Finland's second oldest stone bridge that is still in use, can also be found in Korsholm, in the village of Toby (Fi. Tuovila).