STOCKHOLM, the capital of the king dom of Sweden; on several islands and the adjacent mainland, between a bay of the Baltic and Lake Maier; in a sit uation that is accounted one of the most picturesque in Europe. The nucleus of Stockholm is an island in mid-channel called "the Town"; on it stand the im posing royal palace (1697-1754) ; the principal church (St. Nicholas) , in which the kings are crowned; the House of the Nobles (1648-1670), in which that class hold their periodical meetings; the town house; the ministries of the kingdom; and the principal wharf, a magnificent granite quay, fronting E. Immediately W. of the central island lies the Knights' Island (Riddarholin) ; it is almost en tirely occupied with public buildings, as the Houses of Parliament; the old Fran ciscan Church, in which all the later sovereigns of Sweden have been buried; the royal archives and the chief law courts of the kingdom. To the N. of these two islands lie the handsomely built districts of Norrmalm, separated from them by a narrow channel, in which is an islet covered with the royal stables. The principal buildings and institutions in Norrmalm are the National Mu seum (1850-1865), with extremely valu able collections of prehistoric antiquities, coins, paintings, sculptures; the principal theaters; the Academy of the Fine Arts (1735) ; the barracks; the Hop Garden, with the Royal Library (1870-1876), and with the statue (1885) of Linnmus; the Academy of Sciences (1739), with nat ural history collections; the Museum of Northern Antiquities (1873) ; the Ob servatory; and technological, medical, sloyd, and other schools.
Ship Island (Skeppsholm), immediate ly E. of "the Town" island, is the head quarters of the Swedish navy, and is built over with marine workshops, ship building yards, etc., and is connected with a smaller island on the S. E., that is
crowned with a citadel. Beyond these again, and farther to the E., lies the beautiful island of the Zoological Gar dens (Djurgard). Immediately S. of "the Town" island is the extensive dis trict of Sodermalm, the houses of which climb up the steep slopes that rise from the water's edge. Handsome bridges con nect the central islands with the N. and S. districts; besides buses and tramways, the principal means of communication are quick little steamboats, some of which extend their journeys to the beau tiful islands in Lake Malar on the W., and E. toward the Baltic Sea (40 miles distant). Besides the institutions al ready mentioned Stockholm is the home of the Swedish Academy (1786), Acade mics of Agriculture (1811), Music (1771), and Military Sciences (1771), a naval school, a school of navigation, of pharmacy, etc. There is considerable in dustry in the making of sugar, tobacco, silks and ribbons, candles, linen, cotton, and leather, and there are large iron foundries and machine shops. Stock holm does a large shipping business. Its exports consist chiefly of iron and steel, grain, tar, etc.
Though Stockholm was founded by Birger Jarl in 1255, it was not made the capital of Sweden until comparatively modern times. Since then, however, it has grown rapidly; pop. (1890) 246,151; (1919) 408,456. The principal events in the history of the city have been the sieges by Queen Margaret of Denmark (1389), the battles in the vicinity against the Danes toward the end of the 15th century, the capture of the place by Christian II. of Denmark in 1520, and the Blood Bath he executed among the principal men of the country in what was then the Great Market.