Älvdalen Municipality

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This page deals with both Älvdalen Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Älvdalen

**Älvdalen Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Älvdalen Municipality Map outlining the municipalities of Sweden	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Älvdalen
	{{{locationReadable}}}
	County	Dalarna County
	Province	Dalarna
	Area Rank	6,917 km² 12th of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	7,515 247th of 290
	Population density	1/km²

Älvdalen Municipality is a Municipality in Dalarna County, in central Sweden. With an area of 6913 km², it is Sweden's 12th largest municipality. Its seat is in Älvdalen with 1,800 inhabitants.

The municipality consists of three old parishes: Övdaln (or Älvdalen) and the two former Norwegian parishes Särna and Idre. In Övdaln, the old Elfdalian language is still spoken.

Älvdalen literally means River Valley, a name stemming from the area around the town Älvdalen, situated along the Österdal River, in the municipality's southern part.

The middle part of the coat of arms is meant to depict the landscape: streams and hills.

1 Geography
2 See also
3 External links

[edit] Geography

Geographically, it is considered divided into three parts. From north to south: the fjeld part, the forest part, and the Älv part.

[edit] North

The northern part is located within the Scandinavian mountain range. It has cultural influences from the native sami people.

The largest town is Idre, with about 800 inhabitants, a notable skiing resort.

This part has some high mountains including Storvätteshågna at 1,204 meters and Städjan at 1,131 m. The Töfsingdalen National Park is also located in the northernmost parts.

[edit] Central

The forest part has forests, with the national park Fulufjället also belonging to this part. Its influences come from it bordering to Norway, and its history has many examples and remains from its border conflicts. To symbolize this, the lower part of the coat of arms depict a crossbow. The point furthest away from any seas in Scandinavia is located here.

The largest town is Särna, located along the Österdal River, with 930 inhabitants. Like Idre, its main industry is tourism. The town once belonged to Norway, but in 1644 it was occupied by 200 Swedish peasants, which in effect made it a Swedish town, although it was official granted first with new borders of 1751.

[edit] Southern

The southern area is populated by 5,000 persons, of whom most speak or understand the Elfdalian (or Övdalsk, Älvdalsmål) dialect/language. It is an ancient tongue that may be closest related to the Old Norse language.

This area may be said to have the most interesting culture, with the town Älvdalen and several notable villages such as Evertsberg, Blyberg, Klitten, Brunnsberg and Åsen.