Korsholm (; ) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscape and a large, fractured archipelago. The administrative center is Smedsby, situated from Vaasa center along Finnish national road 8. Geography It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality consists of the central areas, the southern plain, and the extensive archipelago. Parts of the archipelago belong to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kvarken. One of Korsholm's more notable landmarks is that it holds Finland's longest bridge, the Replot Bridge. The bridge connects the island of Replot 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. Major islands in the archipelago include Replot, Björkö, Köklot, Panike and the Valsörarna archipelago. Along the coast, Korsholm extends to two river outlets: Kyrönjoki river flows into the Vassor bay of the Gulf of Bothnia, and the Laihianjoki river flows into Vanhankaupunginlahti, the bay on whose shore the city of Vaasa is located. Villages Anixor Brändövik Böle Björköby Västerhankmo Österhankmo Helsingby Iskmo Jungsund Kalvholm Karkmo Karperö Köklot Kvevlax Koskö Kuni Martois Miekka Munsmo Norra Vallgrund Panike Petsmo Pundars (Puntainen) Replot Rimal Runsor Singsby Smedsby Solf Söderudden Södra Vallgrund Staversby Toby Tölby Vassor Veikars Vikby Vistan Voitby (Most villages have only a Swedish name.) History Name The original Finnish name Mustasaari "Black Island" may have been a medieval island cleared by a wildfire or an island that looks dark when approaching from the sea. Due to isostatic uplift, the area referred to is now inland. The parish is first mentioned as Mustasaari parish in 1348. In Swedish, the pronunciation developed into Mussor, although the form Mustasaari remained in use in the community. Mikael Agricola, the founder of written Finnish, spelled it Mustsåår in 1530. Olaus Magnus spelled it as Mostesar in his 1539 map, Carta Marina, where the castle appeared separately as "Korsholm". In 1606–1611, it was known as Mussar, but in 1611 the city of Vaasa was founded in the parish and thus the parish was known as Vaasa. In 1772, it was known as "city of Vaasa and Mustasaari annex", and in 1807–1867 "parish of Vaasa and Mustasaari". Since then,