Avesta Municipality is one of 290 municipalities of Sweden

Municipalities of Sweden

The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...

. It is in Dalarna County

Dalarna County

Dalarna County is a county or län in middle Sweden. It borders the counties of Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It is also bordered by the Norwegian counties of Hedmark and Sør-Trøndelag in the west...

, in central part of the country, and its seat is in the town Avesta.

The municipality in its present size was created in 1967 when the four surrounding municipalities were joined with the then City of Avesta. In 1971 it became a municipality of unitary type.

Avesta borders to the municipalities of:

• Hedemora
  Hedemora Municipality
  Hedemora Municipality is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is in the city of Hedemora.In 1966 the City of Hedemora was amalgamated with the rural municipality by the same name and with Husby....
  
   in Dalarna,
• Hofors
  Hofors Municipality
  Hofors Municipality is a municipality in Gävleborg County, east central Sweden. Its seat is in Hofors with 7,400 inhabitants, situated at .The first municipality with the name of Hofors was broken away from Torsåker in 1925...
  
   and Sandviken
  Sandviken Municipality
  Sandviken Municipality is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. The seat is the town Sandviken.The present municipality was created in 1971 through the amalgamation of the City of Sandviken with a number of surrounding rural municipalities.The coat of arms was granted to the...
  
   in Gävleborg County
  Gävleborg County
  Gävleborg County is a county or län on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders to the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland. The capital is Gävle.- Administration :...
  
  ,
• Norberg
  Norberg Municipality
  Norberg Municipality is a municipality in Västmanland County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Norberg.- History :...
  
   and Sala in Västmanland County
  Västmanland County
  Västmanland County is a county or län in central Sweden. It borders to the counties of Södermanland, Örebro, Gävleborg, Dalarna and Uppsala...
  
  

Sports

Speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

: The most successful sport team in Avesta is their speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 team Masarna

Masarna

MasarnaAvesta is a defunct motorcycle speedway club from Avesta, Sweden. They were the Swedish Elite League champions in 2000 and 2004.-History:...

, translating to "the men of Dalecarlia", competing in the highest division in Sweden.


Football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

: Avesta AIK

Avesta AIK

Avesta AIK is a Swedish football club located in Avesta, Sweden. -Background:The club was founded in February 1905 as Avesta Absolutisters Idrottsklubb. The name was changed to Avesta Allmänna Idrottsklubb in 1916. The club particupates in football but over the years has undertaken many different...

, Krylbo IF

Ladies' handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

: Avesta Brovallen HF

Ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

: Avesta BK

Localities

• Avesta (the seat)
• Krylbo
  Krylbo
  Krylbo is a part of the town Avesta in Avesta Municipality, Dalarna County. It was a market town until it merged with the city of Avesta in 1966....
  
   (part of the seat Avesta.)
• Horndal
  Horndal
  Horndal is a locality situated in Avesta Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 1,127 inhabitants in 2005....
  
  
• Fors
  Fors
  Fors can mean:* Fors, Deux-Sèvres, a French commune in the department of the Deux-Sèvres* Fors, a village in the Avesta Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden* Fors, a parish in the Diocese of Härnösand, Sweden...
  
  

Notability

Near the town Avesta is a park of European bison.
The city is today mostly notable for its steel mill owned by the Finnish company, Outokumpu

Outokumpu

Outokumpu is a group of companies headquartered in Espoo, Finland, aimed at stainless steel. The company has approx. 8 000 employees in about 30 different countries worldwide...

.

The largest Dalecarlian horse

Dalecarlian horse

A Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse is a traditional carved and painted wooden statuette of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna. In the old days the Dala horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna as well as Sweden in general...

 (Dalahäst) in the world is located in Avesta. It is 13 meters tall and weighs 67 tons.

Notable natives

• Tony Rickardsson
  Tony Rickardsson
  Tony Rickardsson is a retired Swedish motorcycle speedway rider. He is widely acknowledged as being the most successful speedway rider of the current era, having won six Speedway World Championship titles in 15 attempts. He has two daughters, Michelle and Natalie with his wife Anna...
  
  , rally driver, former speedway driver
• Nicklas Lidström
  Nicklas Lidström
  Nicklas Erik Lidström is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, and is their captain...
  
  , ice hockey player (NHL
  National Hockey League
  The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
  
  )
• Scar Symmetry
  Scar Symmetry
  Scar Symmetry is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Avesta in Dalarna County, formed in 2004. The band has released five albums, with six released singles...
  
  , band

External links