Orust, Sweden

Orust is Sweden's third-largest island with an area of 346 km², while the municipality as a whole has a total area of 388 km². The island currently (2004) has just over 15,000 residents, but this figure increases in the summer. Most of the municipality comprises countryside, with a number of small population centres. Henån in northern Orust is the largest community and functions as the chief town of the municipality.

The history of Orust has been shaped first and foremost by the herring periods. When the herring came, the population and level of prosperity increased sharply, before then going into decline. The landscape's bare cliffs bear witness to the most recent herring period: the train-oil works required large quantities of wood, leaving the entire coast virtually treeless.

Today Orust is best known for the manufacture of pleasure craft at both large and very small boatyards. Every second boat exported from Sweden comes from Orust. The industry is small-scale in nature, with most businesses having between one and ten employees.

Orust can be reached by road from the south, via the Skåpesund Bridge from Tjörn, or from the north via the Vindö Bridge. By sea the island can be reached by ferry to Svanesund from Kolhättan on the mainland, or by private boat.