The Stockholm Archipelago (Swedish: Stockholms Skärgård) is the biggest archipelago of Sweden, and one of the biggest archipelagos of the Baltic sea. It stretches from Stockholm and approximately 60 kilometers to the east, bordering Alandia. It consists of approximately 24 000 islands and islets. It mainly follows the coastline of the provinces Södermanland and Uppland.

In 1719 the archipelago was estimated to have a population of 2.900 people, mostly fishermen. Today the archipelago is a popular holiday destination with some 50,000 holiday cottages (mainly owned by Stockholmers). The biggest town of the archipelago, apart from Stockholm, is Vaxholm. As would be expected, boating is an extremely popular activity. In the winter skaters make excursions over the ice.

The landscape has been shaped - and is still shaped - by land elevation. It wasn't until the Viking Age that the archipelago began to assume its present day contours. The islands are still rising by about five millimeters each year.

The village of Ytterby, famous among chemists for naming no fewer than four chemical elements (erbium, terbium, ytterbium and yttrium), is situated in the Stockholm Archipelago.

Many poets, authors 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.

External Links

• Video of the Stockholm Archipelago

Geography of Sweden | Archipelagoes | Geography of Stockholm

Archipel de Stockholm | Stockholms skjærgård | Tukholman saaristo | Stockholms_skärgård