Nyköping

Story

Nyköping is a locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 29,891 inhabitants as of 2010. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the southern shore of the bay just a couple of kilometres from the city centre, Nyköping would have 33,762 inhabitants according to the same SCB source. Commonly, Arnö is referred to as a part of the city proper. It forms a wider conurbation with neighbouring minor town Oxelösund 10km south of its outskirts.Nyköping literally translates as Newmarket into English. The prefix Ny is translated as New and köping is an old Swedish word for a market place and a commonly used suffix for cities in the south central region of the country. The city is located near the open Baltic Sea coast, and is regarded as a coastal location. Nyköping is also the home of Stockholm Skavsta Airport which is located less than 10km from the city centre. Nyköping is part of the wider area of the Mälaren Valley, being around from inner Stockholm. It retains an oceanic/continental climate hybrid, causing warm summers and snowy winters.HistoryThe area bears traces of settlers since around 2000 BC. In the early medieval age, around 1000 AD, Nyköping was a capital of one of the many Swedish petty kingdoms. In the 13th century, construction on the Nyköping Fortress begun; the following century it became the strongest fortress in the country. The coat of arms probably depicts the fortress, or one of its towers.