Ornskoldsvik is a town (pop. 29,000) in Angermanland, Sweden and is the seat of Ornskoldsvik Municipality, Västernorrland County. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in the Gulf of Bothnia and the northern boundaries of the High Coast area of outstanding natural beauty. It is well known as an exporter of paper products, heavy machinery goods and ice hockey stars. It has a strong environment record and is the "testbed" for ethanol powered cars.
Due to the hilly surroundings, hiking and exploring the scenery of the High Coast is popular in the area. In the wintertime, skiing and ice hockey is popular. Both cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and even ski jumping is practiced in the downtown area. Since Ornskoldsvik is a coastal town, there are also beaches near town, as well as campsites. There's also an indoor water park called Paradisbadet, with one of the longest water slides in Europe.
Sports is also popular, the main spectator sport in town is ice hockey, with the local team MODO Hockey in Elitserien, the main league for ice hockey in Sweden. There are many hockey stars from this town such as Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins, who are currently playing for Vancouver Canucks.
The local football teams aren't quite as successful, but still popular. On the men's side especially the teams Friska Viljor FC from central Ornskoldsvik and Anundsjö IF from Bredbyn outside of town, and women's Själevads IK. A couple floorball teams from town have also had some success.
A new golf course, Veckefjärdens Golf Club, to the south of the centre is owned by local celebrity ice hockey star Peter Forsberg - nicknamed Foppa. This has resulted in Ornskoldsvik being given the nickname "Foppaland" in Swedish popular culture.
The islands surrounding the costal area of Ornskoldsvik are big tourist attractions which can be reached by ferry boats.
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