Stockholm

Gamla Stan, Stockholm's first settlement, has many medieval buildings and merchant's houses. Founded in the mid-13th century, Stockholm grew as an important trading centre, and became the capital of Sweden in 1436.

Stockholm is built on a group of some 14 islands and the nearby mainland where Lake Mälar joins the Baltic Sea. In the 17th century it became an important trading centre of the Hanseatic League, a confederation of North European trading cities.

Capital and industrial port of Sweden; population (2005 est) 1,252,000. It is built on a number of islands. Industries include engineering, brewing, electrical goods, paper, textiles, and pottery.

A network of bridges links the islands and the mainland; an underground railway was completed in 1957. The 18th-century royal palace stands on the site of the 13th-century fortress that defended the trading settlements of Lake Mälar, around which the town first developed. The old town is well preserved and has a church (1264). The town hall was designed by Ragnar Östberg 1923. The new city has been developed since 1950 with contemporary architecture. Most of Sweden's educational institutions are in Stockholm (including the Nobel Institute). The warship Wasa (built for King Gustavus Adolphus, 69 m/75 yd long and 52 m/57 yd high), which sank in the harbour 1628, was raised in 1961 and is preserved in a museum.

During the 17th century, the city was the capital of Sweden's Baltic empire.

Stockholm

County of eastern Sweden; area 6,503 sq km/2,510 sq mi; population (1990) 1,606,200. It surrounds the national capital of Stockholm but is administratively separate. It is a fertile lowland region with many lakes. Small amounts of iron ore are mined in the northeast, but the county's main industries are metallurgy and the manufacture of paper and electrical equipment.