Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the inner

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

, northeast of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

on the island was 48,162. It is the seat of government of the

Lidingö Municipality Lidingö Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality east of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located on the island of Lidingö. The municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockh ...

, Stockholm County. Lidingö's qualities have attracted affluent residents such as

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

, Agnetha Fältskog,

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles ''Principality of Reuss-Gera, Princess Re ...

and

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

. Exclusive regions include the coastal region between and the east tip of the island, Gåshaga, as well as the east tip of the northern part of the horse shoe, called . Notwithstanding the fact that many middle-class Swedes have moved to the island, (due to rental apartment construction projects), the inhabitants of the municipality remains the third wealthiest in Sweden after Danderyd and Täby.

History

Runic inscriptions

Two runic inscriptions have been found on Lidingö. The latest, listed in Rundata as the Uppland Runic Inscription Fv1986 84, was found in 1984 under a 10 cm thick layer of soil and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

in an uninhabited region. The inscription is from the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

, around 800–1050 AD. The inscription has been translated as: :" Åsmund carved runes in memory of his grandfather Sten, father of Sibbe and Gerbjörn...a great monument over a good man." The figures show large snakes and on top, a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develope ...

, a typical motif for the late Viking Age rune stones.

Later history

Approximately 300 to 400 years after the carving of the runes, the inhabitants of Lidingö had established small farms. Lidingö is first mentioned in writing in 1328, in the

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

of Jedvard Filipsson, in the sentence ''curiam in Lydhingø'' meaning a "Lidingö farm". Bo Jonsson (Grip) (early 1330s – 20 August 1386) bought the entire island between 1376 and 1381. In approximately 1480, the island was taken over by the Banér family from Djursholm. On 29 August 1774, Johan Gabriel Banér (1733–1811) also from Djursholm, sold the entire island and the land was divided into 25 farms. In the east part of Lidingö, the Långängen-Elfvik nature reserve, which includes of open farmland and most of the forest land on Elfvik, has, preserved within its boundaries, one of the largest old farms, the Elfviks farm. Most of the original houses, built from the end of the 18th century to mid‑19th century, have been saved and restored. The farm is still active with beef cattle, sheep, and horses and is run by Lidingö Municipality. The first church was built in 1623. The

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

educational center for northern Europe, was built close to the Elfvik farm in the early 1960s. The centre was later converted to a hotel.

Notable people

* Emma Lundberg (1869 – 1953), artist and architect

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Lidingö: * KFUM Lidingö Basket (basketball section) * IFK Lidingö - IFK Lidingö FK (soccer section) * IFK Lidingö - IFK Lidingö SOK (orienteering section) * IFK Lidingö - IFK Lidingö FRI (track and field athletics section) * Lidingöloppet, cross-country running event * Lidingö SK

Features

* Hersbyholm

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidingo Islands of Lidingö Municipality Islands of the Stockholm archipelago Municipal seats of Stockholm County Populated places in Lidingö Municipality Swedish municipal seats