Orsa, Sweden

Orsa (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈʊ̂ʂːa])[2] is a locality and the seat of Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants (2010).[1] It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about 15 kilometres (9 miles) north of the town Mora. Inlandsbanan and European route E45 run through the town and the railroad Bollnäs-Orsa connects.

Orsa
Orsa Church
Orsa Show map of Dalarna Orsa Show map of Sweden
Coordinates: 61°07′N 14°37′E
Country	Sweden
Province	Dalarna
County	Dalarna County
Municipality	Orsa Municipality
Area [1]
• Total	12.59 km^2 (4.86 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2010)[1]
• Total	5,308
• Density	422/km^2 (1,090/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Nature

The southern parts of Orsa are characterized by the Siljan Ring, the ring of lakes and rivers in northern Dalarna formed by the big meteorite strike 365 million years ago. In central Orsa, at the ouflow of river Oreälven a sand bank has been built up, in these days enjoyed by thousands of visitors and the inhabitants of Orsa. The big forests start just north of the town of Orsa, with the sparsely populated Orsa finnmark, to which many Finns emigrated during the 17th century.

Worth seeing

• Orsa Spelmän, (Orsa folklore musicians) which Benny Andersson from ABBA used to play with.
• Skattungbyn a small village with a view over the river Oreälven.
• Orsayran (The Orsa Dizzying) a summer music festival, each Wednesday in July.
• Orsa slipstensmuseum a museum of the making of the famous grindstones of Orsa, located in Mässbacken.
• Helvetesfallet and Storstupet, waterfalls in river Ämån 20 km (12 miles) north of Orsa
• Orsa Grönklitt. A wilderness center with wilderness activities, bear and animal park during the summer and a ski resort during the winter.

Orsamål dialect

About 500 people speak the Orsamål dialect, an Old Scandinavian language, which is a variant of Dalecarlian, also called Old Swedish in Minnesota, USA.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Twin towns – Sister cities

Orsa is twinned with:

• Aalborg, Denmark[3]

References

1. "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km² 2005 och 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
2. Jöran Sahlgren; Gösta Bergman (1979). Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter (in Swedish). p. 19.
3. "Aalborg Twin Towns". Europeprize.net. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.