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108
II. TH B SWEDISH PEOPLE.
circumstance which explains the fact that Stockholm has not become the
centre of Sweden to the same degree as Copenhagen, for example, is of
Denmark, or Paris of France. During the last few decades, Stockholm
has undergone a great development as a manufacturing town, and reckons
at present 300,000 inhabitants, whereas it had not a third of that
number at the middle of the century. From a tourist point of view,
Stockholm is universally acknowledged as being one of the most
beautiful cities in the world, and its attractiveness will make itself
more and more felt in the same degree as its renown becomes spread
abroad.
The second city of Sweden as to population, and the first as a seat of
export-trade, is Göteborg (Gothenburg), situated at the mouth of the
Göta-elf, where that river flows into the North Sea. Possessing at the beginning
of the century (with suburbs) some 17,000 inhabitants, it now numbers
150,000 souls, or nine times as many. Gothenburg is a rich and
well-built city, celebrated for a highly developed civic spirit.
Gothenburg has perhaps the finest position for a commercial city in the
whole of Scandinavia; of låte, however, its principal development
— like that of Stockholm — has been as a manufacturing town.
Both as regards population, trade, and industrial pursuits, the
third town of Sweden is Malmö, on the Sound — the capital of Skåne,
with 60,000 inh. The population at the beginning of the nineteenth
century was scarcely 5,000.
Of the remaining large towns, Norrköping, Borås, Jönköping, and
Eskilstuna are chiefly manufacturing towns; the first two are especially
known for their textile industries, Jönköping is celebrated for its
matches, and Eskilstuna for its excellent iron- and steel-ware.
Sundsvall has, it is true, only about 20,000 inh., but it is the principal town
in the world for timber-trade. Gefle and Söderhamn are also
important centers for the same trade. Uppsala and Lund are the seats of
Sweden’s two State universities. Karlskrona is Sweden’s chief naval
station. The town of Örebro, on Lake Hjelmaren, is steadily developing
as the centre for the midland districts of Central Sweden while,
finally, Helsingborg is a rapidly thriving commercial and
manufacturing town, situated at the narrowest part of the Sound.
Amongst the smaller towns we need here name only Falun, near
the celebrated copper-mine of the same name; Visby, the noteworthy,
antique capital of the island of Gotland; Luleå, the port where the
iron-ore of Gellivare is shipped; and Motala, known for its excellent
mechanical works. A number of the other smaller towns of Sweden
are celebrated in tourist literature for their beautiful location; we may
mention Södertelge, Strengnäs, Grenna, Engelholm, Marstrand, Säter, etc.
Before the rise of the great modern industries in Sweden, its
towns busied themselves — apart from considerable farming —
principally with commerce. It is in consequence of this that the greater
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