Falun
Categories: Cities in Sweden | Dalarna | World Heritage Sites in Sweden
- For the spiritual practise, see Falun Gong
Falun is a city in central Sweden, in the province of Dalarna at 60°36′ N 15°37′ E. The town has about 35,000 inhabitants. Together with the surrounding area, the Falun Municipality has 55,000 inhabitants, and is the administrative capital of the Dalarna County.
Together with Borlänge Municipality, Falun forms a metropolitan area with close to 100,000 inhabitants. Falun is still today an important service and industrial city even though the mine is closed.
Contents |
History
The city of Falun received its privileges in 1641. By then Falun was already one of the largest cities in Sweden. The town of Falun is known to have existed in the 14th century as a market place for the surrounding lands. Mining for copper had been a local business since the mid-1200's and the organisation for the extracting of copper and gold from the Great Copper Mountain (Stora Kopparberg) is believed to be the oldest still existing enterprise in the world, proved active since 1347. Falun is located in the Bergslagen district, and the mining area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stora Kopparberg (Great Copper Mountain), which also was the name of the mining company of Falun, is today a part of Stora Enso.
Today
For education, the city holds part of the University College of Dalarna (Högskolan Dalarna).
In sports, Falun hosts the annual Swedish Ski Games at its skiing arena Lugnet. The city's most successful sport team is the bandy team Falu BK which has played in the Swedish top division for many years. Falun has also applied for the Olympic Winter Games but hasn't received them yet.
See also
External links
- Falun - Official site