Orsa () is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of

Orsa Municipality Orsa Municipality (''Orsa kommun'') is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Orsa. Orsa is one of a few municipalities in Sweden which has not been amalgamated, but retains its area from the tim ...

Dalarna County Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmar ...

, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants (2010). It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about north of the town Mora.

Inlandsbanan The Inland Line ( sv, Inlandsbanan) is a railway line between Kristinehamn and Gällivare in Sweden. It runs through the central parts of northern Sweden, and was built between 1908 and 1937. History There were several reasons for constructin ...

and

European route E45 The European route E45 goes between Norway and Italy, through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north–south European route (some east–west routes are longer). The route passes throug ...

run through the town and the railroad Bollnäs-Orsa connects.

Nature

The southern parts of Orsa are characterized by the

Siljan Ring The Siljan Ring ( sv, Siljansringen) is a prehistoric impact crater in Dalarna, central Sweden. It is one of the 15 largest known impact craters on Earth and the largest in Europe, with a diameter of about . The impact that created 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 outflow 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 Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

emigrated during the 17th century.

Worth seeing

* Orsa Spelmän, (Orsa folklore musicians) which

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

from

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

used to play with. *

Skattungbyn Skattungbyn is a locality situated in Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Swed ...

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 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 Dalecarlian (''dalmål'' in Swedish) is a group of East and West Scandinavian languages, and their respective dialects spoken in Dalarna County, Sweden. Some Dalecarlian varieties can be regarded as part of the Swedish dialect group in Gästri ...

, also called Old Swedish in Minnesota, USA.

Climate

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Orsa is twinned with: * Aalborg,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

References

Populated places in Dalarna County Municipal seats of Dalarna County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Orsa Municipality {{Dalarna-geo-stub fi:Orsan kunta