Kastellet ferry
The Kastellet ferry known as the Vaxholmen ferry, is a passenger cable ferry in Sweden's Stockholm archipelago. It connects the town of Vaxholm to Vaxholm Castle, situated on a islet in the middle of the Kodjupet strait between the town and the island of Rindö. At its town terminus, the ferry berths next to the quay used by the Waxholmsbolaget passenger ferries that link Vaxholm to central Stockholm and many other islands of the archipelago; the crossing takes about 2 minutes. There are between two and four return crossings an hour, each of which conveys a maximum of 130 passengers; the service only operates from the start of May to the end of September. The vessel used on the crossing is named Vaxholmen and is electrically powered, using a supply cable attached to the shore at the Vaxholm end and paid out on a drum on the vessel; the power cable is lowered to the bottom of the channel when the vessel is docked at Vaxholm Castle, as are the guidance cables when the ferry is docked at either terminal, thus allowing shipping to transit the channel.
The Vaxholmen was built in 1967, but reconstructed and converted to electrical power in 2015, in time for the opening of the new service in 2016. She is 28 metres in length, 9 metres in width, has a draught of 0.9 metres. The ferry is run by Trafikverket under contract to the Vaxholm Municipality; the municipality is responsible for defining timetables, ticket prices and ferry conditions, while Trafikverket is responsible for operating the ferry. Media related to Kastelletleden at Wikimedia Commons Pages on the Kastelletleden from Trafikverket web site
Botkyrka Municipality
Botkyrka Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 Grödinge was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 Salem was added; the Salem part was in 1983 split off again and a new Salem Municipality was formed. Botkyrka has an estimated population of 91,925; the municipality is named after a Christian missionary during the 12th century. Saint Botvid is shown on the seal and coat of arms of Botkyrka Municipality, where he carries an axe and a fish. Another remnant of Botkyrka's Christian medieval history is the Botkyrka church, made of stone. Politically the municipality is Social Democratic, that has governed Botkyrka for a long period except 3 years in the early 1990s. However, with fewer seats the party now governs together with The Green Party, The Left Party. There have been several local parties. For a long period a local party called. A party was active from mid 1980s to mid 1990s with only one purpose - to prevent the exploitation of the small airfield, F18, in Tullinge to become a commercial airport in the 1980s.
In the election 2010 a local party for the area of Tullinge got 6 seats on the agenda of separating Tullinge from Botkyrka as a separate municipality. Botkyrka has two local, newspapers called "Mitt i Botkyrka" and "Södra Sidan", they are delivered free of charge to all households. The Swedish hip hop group The Latin Kings raps about life in Botkyrka in several of their songs. In its December 2015 report, Police in Sweden placed the Hallunda and Norsborg districts in the most severe category of urban areas with high crime rates. In its 2017 report, Police in Sweden added the Fittja districts to the category; the northern and eastern parts of the municipality are in the contiguous Stockholm urban area. Tumba forms a locality of its own. Vårsta is in the central part; the southern half of the municipality is rural. Botkyrka Northern Botkyrka, has one of the highest percentages of first and second generation immigrants in Sweden. 56.4% the population has at least one parent born in another country. This makes the municipality a multi-cultural community with for example a big Syriac Orthodox Church in Hallunda and a mosque in Fittja.
In 2017, Botkyrka is one of three municipalities in Sweden with a population majority of foreign background. On the 31st of December 2017 the number of people with a foreign background was 53 827, or 58.56% of the population. On the 31st of December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was 35 384, or 47.04% of the population. On 31 December 2017 there were 91 925 residents in Botkyrka, of which 38 130 people were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by Statistics Sweden. Botkyrka is served by the Stockholm public transport system. Stockholm metro has four and Stockholm commuter rail two stations within the municipality. There is an extensive SL bus network. Botkyrka is a municipality with several world-famous companies. Alfa Laval The company is a leading producer of specialized products and solutions used to heat, cool and transport such products as oil, chemicals, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals.
The company owns significant land in Botkyrka used for development of its agricultural division. DeLaval The company is a leading producer of farming machinery. Tumba Bruk The company produces banknotes. Notably, Lars Magnus Ericsson who founded the LM Ericsson company had properties in Botkyrka, including Hågelby gård which today is used for conferences and as an excursion place with gardens, stone age village and more. Fittja Alby Hallunda Norsborg Eriksberg Tumba Tullinge Vårsta The following sports clubs are located in Botkyrka: Arameiska-Syrianska Botkyrka IF Konyaspor KIF Assyriska Botkyrka FF IFK Tumba FK Botkyrka Municipality - Official site in English Botkyrka Municipality Facts - Official facts
Royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. They have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the British Magna Carta of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate, they were, are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs and learned societies. Charters should be distinguished from royal warrants of appointment, grants of arms and other forms of letters patent, such as those granting an organisation the right to use the word "royal" in their name or granting city status, which do not have legislative effect; the British monarchy has issued over 1,000 royal charters. Of these about 750 remain in existence; the earliest charter recorded by the UK government was granted to the University of Cambridge in England in 1231, although older charters are known to have existed including to the Worshipful Company of Weavers in England in 1150 and to the town of Tain in Scotland in 1066.
Charters continue to be issued by the British Crown, a recent example being that awarded to The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, in 2014. Charters have been used in Europe since medieval times to grant rights and privileges to towns and cities. During the 14th and 15th century the concept of incorporation of a municipality by royal charter evolved. Among the past and present groups formed by royal charter are the Company of Merchants of the Staple of England, the British East India Company, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Chartered Bank of India and China, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the British South Africa Company, some of the former British colonies on the North American mainland, City livery companies, the Bank of England and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, royal charters were used to create chartered companies – for-profit ventures with shareholders, used for exploration and colonisation. Early charters to such companies granted trade monopolies, but this power was restricted to parliament from the end of the 17th century.
Until the 19th century, royal charters were the only means other than an act of parliament by which a company could be incorporated. The use of royal charters to incorporate organisations gave rise to the concept of the "corporation by prescription"; this enabled corporations that had existed from time immemorial to be recognised as incorporated via the legal fiction of a "lost charter". Examples of corporations by prescription include Cambridge universities. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, of the 81 universities established in pre-Reformation Europe, 13 were established ex consuetudine without any form of charter, 33 by Papal bull alone, 20 by both Papal bull and imperial or royal charter, 15 by imperial or royal charter alone. Universities established by royal charter did not have the same international recognition – their degrees were only valid within that kingdom; the first university to be founded by charter was the University of Naples in 1224, founded by an imperial charter of Frederick II.
The first university founded by royal charter was the University of Coimbra in 1290, by King Denis of Portugal, which received Papal confirmation the same year. Other early universities founded by royal charter include the University of Perpignan and the University of Huesca, both by Peter IV of Aragon, the Jagiellonian University by Casimir III of Poland, the University of Vienna by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, the University of Caen by Henry VI of England, the University of Girona and the University of Barcelona, both by Alfonso V of Aragon, the University of Valence by the Dauphin Louis, the University of Palma by Ferdinand II of Aragon; the University of Cambridge was confirmed by a Papal bull in 1317 or 1318, but despite repeated attempts, the University of Oxford never received such confirmation. The three pre-Reformation Scottish universities were all established by Papal bulls. Following the reformation, establishment of universities and colleges by royal charter became the norm; the University of Edinburgh was founded under the authority of a royal charter granted to the Edinburgh town council in 1582 by James VI as the "town's college".
Trinity College Dublin was established by a royal charter of Elizabeth I in 1593. Both of these charters were given in Latin; the Edinburgh charter gave permission for the town council "to build and to repair sufficient houses and places for the reception and teaching of professors of the schools of grammar, the humanities and languages, theology and law, or whichever liberal arts which we declare detract in no way from the aforesaid mortification" and granted them the right to appoint and remove professors. But, as concluded by Edinburgh's principal, Sir Alexander Grant, in his tercentenary history of the university, "Obviously this is no charter founding a university". Instead
Ekerö Municipality
Ekerö Municipality is a municipality in the province of Uppland in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name derives from the name of the main island within the municipality whose name is Ekerön, means "Oak Island", its seat is located in the town of Ekerö. The King of Sweden resides at Drottningholm Palace. Ekerö is the only municipality in the Lake Mälaren region composed of islands. Land elevation has reduced the number of islands and skerries to 140, the largest of which, distinguished on the map below, are Adelsö, Munsö, Ekerö, Färingsö, Lovö. 2000 years ago, during the Roman Iron Age, Färingsön was more of an archipelago of twenty islands. When the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden in 1863, eight rural municipalities were created, each corresponding to an old parish; the municipal reform of 1952 grouped them in two new larger entities. The next reform in 1971 merged them into the present municipality; the municipality contains two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One is Birka, an old Viking Age village, the other is Drottningholm Palace and its surroundings.
Drottningholm, located on the Lovö island, was a Renaissance palace built by King John III for Queen Catherine Jagellon. On December 30, 1661 the old palace burned down. Queen Dowager Hedvig Eleonora had a new palace erected out of the preserved walls and cellar vaults from King John III:s palace in the French Baroque style to the design of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder, a work completed by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, Carl Hårleman, Jean Eric Rehn. Since 1981 it is the permanent residence of the royal family, but large parts of the park are accessible to the public; the palace features several uniquely preserved structures, including the Palace Theatre, inaugurated in 1766 and still delivering operas using the preserved original machinery. Birka on the Björkö island is the oldest urban structure in Sweden, founded in the mid 8th century. In the 9th century, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, made two failed attempts to convert its inhabitants; the settlement was abandoned in the late 10th century for unknown reasons.
The excavations of the 1.100 graves in the area started in 1871 and have continued since. A museum was created in 1995, in summers various boats carry large numbers of tourists to the island. Other historical sights of interest are several runestones and other Viking remains, eight medieval churches, old towns.. On the Adelsö Island is Hovgården, together with Birka a world heritage site, featuring barrows, thick walls, runestones. There is Alsnö hus, the ruins of the summer residence of Magnus Barnlock were the Ordinance of Alsnö created the foundation of the Swedish nobility, a Romanesque church from the 12th century. Next to this Crown palace is the residential area Drottningholmsmalmen which draws its history back to the Torvesund manor built in 1579-80 and which served as a place of refuge for the Jesuits following the Reformation. During the 18th century, soldiers and other craftsmen working at The Royal Palace settled in the area. Intentions were to develop it into a suburb to the palace like at the Versailles Palace, this end the area was granted the status of a city to attract entrepreneurs and artists to the royal court.
During the reign of King Gustav III had several building erected, including the Långa raden to accommodate the royal life guard. By 1815 78 properties existed in the area. However, it failed to develop in the direction sketched-out by Gustav III, instead evolved into a summer residence area inhabited by wealthy burghers, the large-scales villas in a wide range of styles have given the area its characteristics. In the middle of the 20th century several buildings by well-known Swedish architects, including Nils Tesch, Ralph Erskine, Peter Celsing and Bengt Lindroos, were added. Kanton is a group of twenty buildings next to the Chinese Pavilion built in the 1750s and 1760s, intended to be a mercantile prototype settlement. 70-80 people lived there for a few decades producing luxury items for the royal court and the nobility, including some of the interior of the China Pavillin. The buildings inspired author Elsa Beskow to some of her fairy tales. Kungshatt is a rocky island south of Lovön where, according to a legend, a king Erik Väderhatt, so named because of his fortune with the winds which he could foretell with his hat, escaped his enemies by jumping from the cliff with his horse.
The location for this event was furnished with a copper hat, now substituted with an iron hat. Svartsjö Palace was a Folkung mansion; the palace King Gustav I and his sons had built here was destroyed by fire in 1687. The rococo palace, built 1735-39 to the design of Carl Hårleman and expanded by Queen Louisa Ulrika, was neglected for centuries before being restored, its Baroque and English gardens are preserved. Hilleshög Church is a Romanesque edifice, built in granite and brick, with some parts from the 17th and 18th centuries and additions. Many of the paintings in the interior, dating back to the end of the 13th century and the early 15th century, were painted over in the 18th century but were restored in the 1920s and in 2002, together with some of the furniture. Ekebyhov is a real estate created around 1630, its main building, Ekebyhov Palace, is a wooden structure begun in 1674 and completed in 1704. It is the oldest preserved wooden palace in Europe; the gardens of the palace boasts several unique plants and features a café
Huddinge Municipality
Huddinge Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge, a part of Stockholm urban area; the municipality is, with its 110,000 inhabitants, the second most populated in Stockholm County. The municipality covers the entire central part of the Södertörn peninsula. More than half of the land area consists of agriculture, hills, or lakes, it contains 13 nature reserves. Huddinge borders the following municipalities: Stockholm Municipality, Ekerö Municipality, Botkyrka Municipality, Haninge Municipality and Tyresö Municipality. Björksättra Peninsula Nature Reserve Drevviken Nature Reserve Flemingsbergsskogen Nature Reserve Gladö Kvarnsjön Nature Reserve Gladöskogen Nature Reserve Gömmaren Nature Reserve, including the Fullersta kvarn Natura 2000 area. Gömsta Äng Nature Reserve Korpberget Nature Reserve Lissmadalen Nature Reserve Lännaskogen Nature Reserve, including Lissma-Kvarnsjö and Lännaskogen Natura 2000 areas. Orlången Nature Reserve Paradiset Nature Reserve, including Granby and Hanveden Natura 2000 areas.
Trångsundsskogen Nature Reserve Vårbyfjärden Albysjön Gömmaren Långsjön Trehörningen Mörtsjön Orlången Kvarnsjön-Gladö Kärrsjön Holmträsket Rudträsket Ådran Trehörningen-Paradiset Långsjön-Paradiset Ormputten Öran Lissmasjön Trylen Kvarnsjön-Lissma Ågestasjön Magelungen Drevviken Huddinge has a total population of 110,000, or 4.5% of the population of Stockholm County. The average age is 36.7 years. This means that Huddinge has a younger population than both Stockholm County and the whole country; the population density of the municipality is increasing significantly. Since the 1960s, the population has doubled in size and is among the 14 largest municipalities in Sweden; the population of Huddinge passed the one of Gävle in 2008, the ones of Eskilstuna and Sundsvall as well in 2009. On the 31st of December 2017 the number of people with a foreign background was 43 699, or 39.73% of the population. On the 31st of December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was 24 319, or 28.13% of the population.
On 31 December 2017 there were 110 003 residents in Huddinge, of which 32 190 people were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by Statistics Sweden. Stockholm urban area 86,802 inh. Vidja 633 inh. Rural areas 2,465 inh, it is believed that the history of Huddinge goes back at least 1,000 years, to before the Viking Age. When hostile ships approached the community, the inhabitants of Huddinge would climb to high locations and light beacons. Beacons were located around the entirety of Lake Mälaren. Huddinge's coat of arms has its origins in this tradition; the name Huddinge is believed to come from the Uddung's - the first inhabitants in this area, which during the Iron Age lived on the shores of Lake Mälaren nearby Vårby. Huddinge is served by the Stockholm public transport system.
There are two stations on the Stockholm Metro and five on the Stockholm commuter rail system as well as large bus network. Some main line trains call at Flemingsberg. Huddinge municipality is sub-divided into six districts: Flemingsberg Segeltorp Sjödalen-Fullersta Skogås Stuvsta-Snättringe Trångsund Vårby, including MasmoThere are four territorial parishes of the Church of Sweden within the municipality: Huddinge, Trångsund, Flemingsberg and St. Mikael. Election to Swedish municipals are held every 4th year on the 3rd Sunday in September. Election 2014 to the 61 seat council resulted in that the centre-right Alliance of 4 parties plus two local parties stayed in power without own majority; the Red-Green 3 parties are in opposition and the far right Sweden Democrats holds the balance of power but wots with the Alliance. The municipality contains six public libraries, Södertörn University College and one of the campuses for Karolinska Institutet. Kungens Kurva is one of Sweden's largest shopping areas.
It hosts, among other things, the largest IKEA store in the world, the largest cinema in the country, a large shopping centre. In total, it has 15 million visitors per year; the most known sports club in Huddinge is the ice hockey club Huddinge IK, which has fostered a long line of well-known Swedish ice hockey players, such as Michael Nylander, Mattias Norström and Kent Johansson, used to be a regular runner up in the Swedish second division and the qualifications for the Elitserien. Peter Forsberg happened to make his debut as a senior player with his original club Modo Hockey, facing Huddinge away. After years of debate a vote is planned was 2008 regarding a split of Huddinge into two different municipalities named in published documents as Huddinge and Huddinge östra; the intention with a split is to make the eastern part of Huddinge its own municipality after years of protests from inhabitants. Due to large protests it was decided in 2007 to hold a vote regarding the split; however it was proposed.
This has caused a major political split of opinions as the political opposition wants to see
Stockholm archipelago
The Stockholm archipelago is the largest archipelago in Sweden, the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea. The water has a pH-value from 7.0 or lower, to be compared with 8.0 for seawater. Together with humic substances this sometimes causes a bit brownish water colour in the inner parts; the salinity varies between brackish water with poor salinity. In the outer parts of the archipelago, the salinity reaches around 0.6–0.7 per cent by weight, to be compared with at least 1.5 for beginning to taste salty and around 3.0 or more for proper oceanic water. Sea ice is formed in the inner parts every winter; the archipelago extends from Stockholm 60 kilometres to the east. In a north–south direction, it follows the coastline of the Södermanland and Uppland provinces, reaching from Öja island, south of Nynäshamn, to Väddö, north of Norrtälje, it is separated from Åland by a stretch of water named South Kvarken. A separate group of islands lies further north, near the town of Öregrund. Between Arholma and Landsort there are 24,000 islands and islets.
Some of the better-known islands are Dalarö, Finnhamn, Nässlingen, Husarö, Ingarö, Ljusterö, Möja, Nämdö, Rödlöga, Tynningö, Utö, Svartsö and Värmdö. The biggest towns of the archipelago, apart from Stockholm, are Nynäshamn and Norrtälje; the village of Ytterby, famous among chemists for naming no fewer than four chemical elements, is situated on Resarö in the Stockholm archipelago. The shipping routes from the Baltic to Stockholm pass through the archipelago. There are three main entrances suitable for deep-draught craft, those near Landsort, Söderarm; the Stockholm archipelago is a joint valley landscape, shaped – and is still being shaped – by post-glacial rebound. It was not until the Viking Age; the islands rise by about three millimeters each year. In 1719 the archipelago had an estimated population of 2,900, consisting of fishermen. Today the archipelago is a popular holiday destination with some 50,000 holiday cottages; the Stockholm Archipelago Foundation, dedicated to the preservation of the nature and culture of the archipelago, owns some 15% of its total area.
The inhabitants in the archipelago, from around the mid-1400s to the end of the second world war, were combined farmers and fishermen. Spring and autumn fishing was quite intensive in the outer archipelago from 1450 until the mid-1800s, many fishermen lived for long periods in the outer islands because of the long distances to their permanent houses in the inner archipelago; the combined farming and fishing culture lasted until around 1950–1955 when the younger generation, born during and directly after the war, started to leave the archipelago and look for jobs in the cities on the mainland. Today most of the small farms on the islands are closed and the fishing industry has disappeared. Many poets and artists have been influenced and fascinated by the Stockholm archipelago. Among them are August Strindberg, Ture Nerman, Roland Svensson, Ernst Didring and Aleister Crowley. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from the group ABBA wrote most of their songs in a cabin located on the archipelago. Boating is an popular activity with the sailing race Ornö runt being the largest in the archipelago.
This annual race, organised by the Tyresö Boat Club, has taken place every year since 1973. It requires registration. There are different entry classes, with the family class being the least competitive. In the winter skaters make excursions over the ice. Visiting the larger islands in the archipelago is easy all year round, but during winter period the routes depend on the ice conditions. Several companies have regular routes; the largest ship owner company is Waxholmsbolaget owned by the Stockholm County government. Taxi boats are available. In summer the archipelago bristles with private boats filled with people who take advantage of Allemansrätt, a law which gives anyone the right to go ashore or anchor on any ground not in the direct vicinity of buildings. List of archipelagos Örsö Strömma Canal Stockholm archipelago 24,000 islands and islets. Nautical chart: International no. 1205, SE61, Baltic Sea, Sea of Åland. Jeppe Wikström, title Havsskärgård, 2004. Images from the outer parts of Stockholm archipelago.
ISBN 91-89204-80-8 The Archipelago Foundation
Sweden
Sweden the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east, is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund, a strait at the Swedish-Danish border. At 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area. Sweden has a total population of 10.2 million. It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre; the highest concentration is in the southern half of the country. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats and Swedes and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is forested. Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia; the climate is in general mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence, that in spite of this still retains warm continental summers.
Today, the sovereign state of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state, like its neighbour Norway. The capital city is Stockholm, the most populous city in the country. Legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister. Sweden is a unitary state divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. An independent Swedish state emerged during the early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century killed about a third of the Scandinavian population, the Hanseatic League threatened Scandinavia's culture and languages; this led to the forming of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397, which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years War on the Reformist side, an expansion of its territories began and the Swedish Empire was formed; this became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, ending with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809.
The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since Sweden has been at peace, maintaining an official policy of neutrality in foreign affairs; the union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905. Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars and the Cold War, albeit Sweden has since 2009 moved towards cooperation with NATO. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995, but declined NATO membership, as well as Eurozone membership following a referendum, it is a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens, it has the world's eleventh-highest per capita income and ranks in numerous metrics of national performance, including quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, equality and human development.
The name Sweden was loaned from Dutch in the 17th century to refer to Sweden as an emerging great power. Before Sweden's imperial expansion, Early Modern English used Swedeland. Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod, which meant "people of the Swedes"; this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige means "realm of the Swedes", excluding the Geats in Götaland. Variations of the name Sweden are used in most languages, with the exception of Danish and Norwegian using Sverige, Faroese Svøríki, Icelandic Svíþjóð, the more notable exception of some Finnic languages where Ruotsi and Rootsi are used, names considered as referring to the people from the coastal areas of Roslagen, who were known as the Rus', through them etymologically related to the English name for Russia; the etymology of Swedes, thus Sweden, is not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning "one's own", referring to one's own Germanic tribe. Sweden's prehistory begins in the Allerød oscillation, a warm period around 12,000 BC, with Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province, Scania.
This period was characterised by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers using flint technology. Sweden is first described in a written source in Germania by Tacitus in 98 AD. In Germania 44 and 45 he mentions the Swedes as a powerful tribe with ships that had a prow at each end. Which kings ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC; as for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts of male names, demonstrating th
Media related to Vaxholm at Wikimedia Commons
