Älvdalen ( or ; literally "the river valley") is a locality and the seat of Älvdalen Municipality in

Dalarna County Dalarna County () 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 Hedmark and Trøndelag to ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, with 1,810 inhabitants in 2010. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

is widely known for being the place of manufacturing, in 1839, of the 4-meter granite vase (called ''Älvdalen Vase''), installed in the Summer Garden in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(a gift from Charles XIV John of Sweden to

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

). Nearby is the Hykjebergets Nature Reserve, inaugurated by Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia in 2016.

Language

The indigenous

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

of Älvdalen is Elfdalian. Although it contains many

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

s it still preserves various

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

traits that have ceased to exist in most other

North Germanic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

.
O'Hagan, Sean: ''Witch hunts, mystics and race cars: inside the weirdest village in Sweden'' (photo-essay on photographer Maja Daniels's three-year sojourn in Älvdalen and her family connection to Elfdalian) The main spoken language in modern times is a Dalecarlian dialect of Swedish language, Swedish, which also is the dominant language in the local administration.

Climate

Älvdalen has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

influenced by its location near the furthest interior position on the

Scandinavian Peninsula The Scandinavian Peninsula is located in Northern Europe, and roughly comprises the mainlands of Sweden, Norway and the northwestern area of Finland. The name of the peninsula is derived from the term Scandinavia, the cultural region of Denm ...

. As a result, seasonal swings are large and the general climate has strong resemblances to

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

much further north at sea level. Being in a river valley, the area is also prone to temperature inversion and harsh freezing. Compared to Mora about to its southeast, temperature differences are comparatively large since Mora is lower, further south and situated by the slightly moderating lake of Siljan.

References

Municipal seats of Dalarna County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Älvdalen Municipality {{Dalarna-geo-stub

Language

Climate

See also

References