Røros Mining Town and the Circumference


World Heritage Identification Number: 55

World Heritage since: 1980

Category: Cultural Heritage

Transboundary Heritage: No

Endangered Heritage: No

Country: 🇳🇴 Norway

Continent: Europe

UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America

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Røros Mining Town and the Circumference: A Unique Cultural Landscape in Norway

The Røros Mining Town and the Circumference, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980, offers a fascinating glimpse into Norway's rich history of copper mining. Situated in the remote region of Trøndelag county, this site showcases the enduring culture that developed around the extraction of copper over three centuries.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Røros Mining Town and the Circumference is linked to the copper mines, established in the 17th century and exploited for 333 years until 1977. The site comprises the Town and its industrial-rural cultural landscapes; Femundshytta, a smelter with its associated area; and the Winter Transport Route. Completely rebuilt after its destruction by Swedish troops in 1679, Røros contains about 2000 wooden one- and two-storey houses and a smelting house. Many of these buildings have preserved their blackened wooden façades, giving the town a medieval appearance. Surrounded by a buffer zone, coincident with the area of privileges (the Circumference) granted to the mining enterprise by the Danish-Norwegian Crown (1646), the property illustrates the establishment and flourishing of a lasting culture based on copper mining in a remote region with a harsh climate.

Encyclopedia Record: Røros (town)

 (Norwegian) or Plaassja (Southern Sami) is the administrative centre of Røros Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is located along the river Hyttelva and along the Rørosbanen railway line, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the village of Glåmos and about the same distance north of the village of Os i Østerdalen in neighboring Innlandet county.

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Additional Site Details

Area: 16,510 hectares

UNESCO Criteria: (iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement

Coordinates: 62.5738888889 , 11.3855555556

Image

Image of Røros Mining Town and the Circumference

© Randi Hausken from Bærum, Norway, CC BY-SA 2.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)

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Country Information: Norway

Flag of Norway

Official Name: Kingdom of Norway

Capital: Oslo

Continent: Europe

Population (2024): 5,572,272

Population (2023): 5,519,594

Population (2022): 5,457,127

Land Area: 364,270 sq km

Currency: Norwegian krone (NOK)

Country Data Sources

Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page Røros Mining Town and the Circumference are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Røros (town), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

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