\'Stockholm' is the capital and the largest City of Sweden. The City of Stockholm is administratively a Municipality within Stockholm County, with an inner city population of 750,348, and with 1,823,210 including the suburbs and county.
The earliest mention of Stockholm in writing dates from 1252, when it was an important post in the iron trade from the mines in Bergslagen. The city is said to have been founded by Birger Jarl in order to protect Sweden from invasion from the sea by foreign navies and to stop pillage of the cities such as Sigtuna on Lake Mälaren. The first building at Stockholm was a fortification for the purpose of controlling the traffic between the Baltic Sea and Mälaren.
The city is situated on fourteen islands and on the banks of the archipelago where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. The city center is virually situated on the water. Coordinates: 59°21'N, 18°4'E.
Stockholm might be most well known for the Nobel Prizes and the prize ceremony held each year, but the city also houses the largest concentration of universities with research and higher education in Sweden.
Apart from being a large city with an active cultural life Stockholm as a capital also houses many of the national cultural institutions of Sweden, including theater, opera and museums. There are two UNESCOWorld Heritage sites in the Stockholm area: the castle of Drottningholm and the cemetery Skogskyrkogården.
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