Stockholm is built on 14 islands connected by 57 bridges. The archipelago consists of 24,000 islands, islets, and skerries.
The Ultimate Guide to International Marathons chose the course for the Stockholm Marathon as the “world’s most beautiful.”
Stockholm has no fewer than 1,500 restaurants, nine of which have been awarded stars by the Guide Michelin Main Cities of Europe 2009. There are 60 restaurants in the archipelago.
Sweden publishes more cookbooks per capita than any other country in the world, averaging one per day.
The Stockholm region boasts 54 golf courses.
Stockholm has 100 art galleries and 75 museums, which is the single greatest concentration of galleries and museums in one place in the world.
Globen, Skansen, Kulturhuset, and Gröna Lund were the most popular attractions, while the Vasamuseet received the most visitors.
There are 88 movie theatres with a total of 18,000 seats in Stockholm. All foreign movies are subtitled.
The Stockholm subway, also known as the world’s longest art gallery, is 68 miles long. Close to ninety of the subway’s 100 stations are adorned with paintings, sculptures, and mosaics.
Stockholm is the only capital in the world that permits hot-air balloons to fly over it.
The Average Stockholmer
Stockholm has 758,148 inhabitants. Greater Stockholm has a population of 1, 852, 984 people. Sweden’s total population is 8,946,304.
The average Stockholmer is 39 years old, earns SEK 20,500 per month, and has 1.36 children.
The average woman in Stockholm had her first child at 30.5 years of age. Her life expectancy is 81. The average man will live to 75.
Parents are entitled to be at home with their children for 480 days. Fathers can use half of these days for paternity leave.
The biggest employer in Stockholm is the municipality, with 43,925 employees, followed by the Stockholm County Council (23.675), Ericsson (12,375), the Post Office (10,575) and AstraZeneca (8,275).
Eighty-seven percent of Stockholmers use cell phones and 80 percent have Internet access at home.
Stockholm in the World
Sweden is the world’s third largest exporter of music, after the United States and England.
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and established the Nobel Prizes, which are given out annually on December 10 in the Konserthuset. The banquet takes place in Stadshuset.
Greta Garbo was born in Stockholm and is buried in Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm.
Many well-known international actors come from Sweden. Lena Ohlin (Chocolat), Isabella Scorupco (Golden Eye), Peter Stormare (Fargo), and Stellan Skarsgård (Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting) have all appeared in Hollywood productions.
Ingmar Bergman, the internationally renowned movie and theatre director, is from Stockholm.
