[4] The municipality is located at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif on the road over the Great St Bernard Pass.
It is located on the border with both Italy and France and covers two valleys, the Val Ferret and the Vallée de Champex.
It consists of the village of Orsières and twelve hamlets including Champex, Ferret, Issert, La Fouly and Praz-de-Fort.
La Fouly (1,992 m (6,535 ft)) is a tourist destination for families and a starting point for many hikes into the surrounding mountains.
This hamlet in the municipality of Orsières is located in the Val Ferret (Valais, Switzerland).
La Fouly is a stopping place for the Tour du Mont Blanc.
[4] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (2,531 or 96.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (37 or 1.4%) and Portuguese is the third (14 or 0.5%).
[4] The botanical gardens of Alpin Flore-Alpe are listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The entire hamlet of Commeire is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
[14] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,458 votes were cast, of which 96 or about 6.6% were invalid.
The number of jobs in the primary sector was 81, of which 71 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production.
In the tertiary sector; 99 or 22.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 67 or 15.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 106 or 23.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 7 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 14 or 3.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 24 or 5.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 45 or 10.2% were in education and 14 or 3.2% were in health care.
[4] From the 2000 census[update], 2,357 or 89.6% were Roman Catholic, while 77 or 2.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.
The wettest month is December during which time Orsières receives an average of 73 mm (2.9 in) of rain or snow.
The driest month of the year is September with an average of 53 mm (2.1 in) of precipitation over 7.3 days.