tches, condensed milk, fish, leather and hides, ice,
sealskins, &c. Of the imports, Great Britain supplies the greater part
of the cotton and woollen yarn, the machinery (including ships), and the
raw metals; the United States about one-half of the oils and fats, and a
large proportion of the food-stuffs, and skins, feathers, &c. Of the
exports, almost the whole of the timber goes to Great Britain, together
with the larger portion of the paper and food-stuffs (butter, &c.). The
harbour is ice-bound for three or four months in the winter, when ships
lie at Droebak, lower down the fjord; but ice-breakers are also used.
Early in 1899 the municipality voted L47,000 for the construction of a
pier, a harbour for fishing-boats, protected by a mole, and a quay, 345
ft. long, on the shore underneath the Akershus. These works signalized a
great scheme of improvement, involving a general rearrangement of the
entire harbour.

The present suburb of Oslo represents the original city, which was
founded on this site under that name (or Opslo) by Harald Sigurdsson in
1048. By the close of the 14th century it was established as the chief
city of Norway. Trade was long dominated by the powerful Hanseatic
League, at least until the beginning of the 16th century. The town,
built mainly of wood, was no less subject to fires than all Norwegian
towns have always been, and after one of these King Christian IV.
refounded the capital on the new site it now occupies, and gave his name
to it in 1624. By the close of the century it was fortified, but this
did not prevent Charles XII. from gaining possession of it in 1716.

See L. Daae, _Det gamle Christiania, 1624-1824_ (Christiania, 1890);
Y. Nielsen, _Christiania und Umgegend_ (Christiania, 1894); G. Amneus,
_La Ville de Christiania ... Resume historique, &c._ (Christiania,
1900).

CHRISTIANITY, the religion which accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour, embracing all who profess and call themselves Christians, the
term derived from his formal title ([Greek: Christos], i.e. the
anointed). Within this broad characterization are found many varieties
of cult, organization and creed (see CHURCH HISTORY). Christianity is
classed by the students of the science of religion as a universal
religion; it proclaims itself as intended for all men without
distinction of race or caste, and as in possession of absolute truth. In
fact, Christianity has been widely accepted by varied races in very