The city of Birka was founded in the 8th century on the island of Björkö, near Stockholm, by the Swedish king, who resided in Hovgården on the neighboring island of Adelsö. Birka was inhabited until the end of the 10th century, and it was the only city on the Scandinavian Peninsula in the Viking age. Birka was a city where craftsmen of all kinds lived, and where visiting merchants traded goods for other goods.