Orsa, Sweden


Orsa is a locality and the seat of Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants. It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about north of the town Mora. Inlandsbanan and European route E45 run through the town and the railroad Bollnäs-Orsa connects.

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

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

Twin towns – Sister cities

Orsa is twinned with: