Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It is situated in the south central part of the country on the border between the provinces Uppland and Södermanland (also known as Sörmland), on the east coast, between lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The municipality of Stockholm has approximately 765,000 inhabitants (2004), the greater metro area 1.9 million (2004). The population of the metro area grows by about 20,000 each year.
Stockholm is not the oldest town in Sweden but after its establishment in the 1250s it rapidly became a national centre, having a very strategic location between a major lake (Mälaren) and the Baltic Sea. The city is in almost every respect the most important city in Sweden, even though more peripheral regions, especially in the south and west, feel they survive quite well without the political centralism exerted by the capital. Stockholm is a mix of old and new. Particularly between 1955 and 1975, hundreds of older buildings were demolished during a great modernization process, encouraged by similar projects in London and other cities damaged during the Second World War. Sweden's beautiful capital has a very picturesque setting that makes the city unique. The difference between summer and winter is quite large, with long, mild summer nights and lots of greenery, and dark, cold, often snowy winters with millions of Christmas candles in the windows.