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Westfjords
The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a seven-kilometre-wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður . The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by steep hills. These indentations make roads very circuitous and communications by land difficult. In addition many of the roads are closed by ice and snow for several months of the year. The Vestfjarðagöng road tunnel from 1996 has improved that situation. The cliffs at Látrabjarg comprise the longest bird cliff in the northern Atlantic Ocean and are at the westernmost point in Iceland. The Drangajökull glacier is located in the north of the peninsula and is the fifth-largest of the country, but the only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vestfirðir Features
The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a seven-kilometre-wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður . The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by steep hills. These indentations make roads very circuitous and communications by land difficult. In addition many of the roads are closed by ice and snow for several months of the year. The Vestfjarðagöng road tunnel from 1996 has improved that situation. The cliffs at Látrabjarg comprise the longest bird cliff in the northern Atlantic Ocean and are at the westernmost point in Iceland. The Drangajökull glacier is located in the north of the peninsula and is the fifth-largest of the country, but the only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord which meets the waters of the larger fjord Ísafjarðardjúp. With a population of about 2,600, Ísafjörður is the largest settlement in the peninsula of Vestfirðir (Westfjords) and the administration centre of the Ísafjarðarbær municipality, which includes—besides Ísafjörður—the nearby villages of Hnífsdalur, Flateyri, Suðureyri, and Þingeyri. History According to the Landnámabók (the book of settlement), Skutulsfjörður was first settled by Helgi Magri Hrólfsson in the 9th century. In the 16th century, the town grew as it became a trading post for foreign merchants. Witch trials were common around the same time throughout the Westfjords, and many people were banished to the nearby peninsula of Hornstrandir, now a na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vestfjarðagöng
Vestfjarðagöng (, regionally also , "Westfjords Tunnel") is the longest tunnel in Iceland, located in Westfjords in northwestern Iceland. It has a length of and was opened in September 1996. The tunnel has three entrances and the three arms meet at junction in the tunnel. The three arms are known as: *Breiðadalur, 4,150 m (13,615 ft), which gives access to Flateyri and the south-western part of the Westfjords; *Botnsdalur 2,907 m (9,537 ft), which gives access to the village of Suðureyri to the west, a dead end route; *Tungudalur 2,103 m (6,900 ft), which gives access to Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ... and the northern part of the Westfjords. Only the Tungudalur arm has two lanes throughout. Much of the rest of the tunnel has only one lane w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slaying Of The Spaniards
The Slaying of the Spaniards (also known as the Spanish Killings; is, Spánverjavígin ) was the last documented massacre in Icelandic history. Some Basque whalers went on a whaling expedition to Iceland and were killed after conflict in 1615 with local people in the region of the Westfjords. Background In the first half of the seventeenth century Spanish whalers set up the world's first large-scale whaling industry in Newfoundland. The center of this industry was some ten ports on the southern coast of Labrador. During the peak years of the 1560s and 1570s the fleet comprised around 30 ships manned by up to 2,000 men, who killed approximately 400 whales each year. By the beginning of the seventeenth century Spanish whaling had reached Iceland. Massacre The year 1615 was a difficult year in Iceland with ice up to shores until late summer and considerable loss of livestock. In mid-summer three Spanish whaling vessels put into Reykjarfjörður in Westfjords. Icelanders and the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Þingeyri
Þingeyri (, regionally also ) is a settlement in the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland. It is located on the coast of Dýrafjörður fjord in the mountainous peninsula Westfjords (in Icelandic written Vestfirðir). On 1 January 2019, it had a population of 246. It has an airport. Continually inhabited since 1787,''Íslenska alfræðiorðabókin'', p. 563. Þingeyri is one of the oldest settlements in the WestfjordsLeffman, p. 207. and the first trading post established there.Simmonds, p. 243.Harding, p. 160. It is believed to derive its name from a medieval assembly (''þing'') and has ruins of a medieval booth believed to have been used by visitors to the assembly. Thanks to its sheltered location Þingeyri developed into a significant fishing center. In the 19th century the French applied for permission to establish a base there to support their fishing operations in the area but were turned down. From 1884-98, the town served as the base for American halibut fish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolungarvík
Bolungarvík (, regionally also ) is a small town and the only built-up area in the municipality of Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður in the northwest of Iceland, located on the Westfjords peninsula, approximately from the town of Ísafjörður and from the capital city Reykjavík. Bolungarvík is close to abundant fishing grounds and has been used as an outpost for fishing since the 17th century, making it one of the earliest in Iceland. The village was not accessible by road until 1950, and in 2010 the Bolungarvíkurgöng tunnel was opened under the Óshlíð mountain to bypass the old road, which was frequently subject to avalanches and rock falls. Tourist sites include the Ósvör Maritime Museum, featuring a restored 19th-century fishing hut, a natural history museum, which houses taxidermied animals including a polar bear and the biggest bird collection in Iceland, and an indoor swimming pool with outdoor hot tubs and a water slide. Skálavík bay can be reached by a gravel road f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reykhólar
Reykhólar () is an Icelandic village in the Westfjords, in the northwest area of the country. The village, with around 120 inhabitants, has a swimming pool near the local camp site with a great view on the sea and mountains. The camp site, hostel, and a tourist office are open during the summer. Located south of Reykhólar, on a small island just offshore, is the plant of Norður & Co., a manufacturer of sea salt, evaporated from seawater by means of geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres .... This process was first tried on Breiðafjöður in 1753 and was selected by Søren Rosenkilde when he established Norður in 2012. See also * Bjarkalundur References External links TravelNet - ReykholarEyjasiglingReykhólarSjávarsmiðjan - Seaweed bathHotel B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bíldudalur
Bíldudalur () is a village situated on the coast of Arnarfjörður, one of the Westfjords in Iceland. It is situated in the Vesturbyggð municipality and has 238 inhabitants (as of January 2021). The village prospered in the 19th century thanks to sound business enterprise and the booming fishing industry. Ólafur Thorlacius (1761–1815) set up business in Bíldudalur following the end of the Danish trade monopoly. He was one of the most influential businessmen in Iceland at the beginning of the 19th century. He bought and sold fish, traded goods and ran his own small fishing fleet. One of his successors, Pétur J. Thorsteinsson (1854–1924) successfully continued this operation. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the decline of the fishing industry and the imposition of strict quotas by the Icelandic government led the town to diversify its economy. The village is now home to a factory, which provides employment to many residents, processing a mineral-rich algae f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Súðavík
Súðavík () is a fishing village and municipality (Súðavíkurhreppur ) on the west coast of Álftafjörður in Westfjords, Iceland. History On January 16, 1995, an avalanche fell on the village early in the morning (around 6:25 am) and destroyed several buildings, most of them residents' houses. Fourteen people were killed (including eight children) and twelve were injured. Severe snow storms made the rescue work difficult and dangerous. The final survivor was rescued 23 hours after the avalanche had fallen, and the search continued into the evening of January 17. A disaster relief fund was established, and within a week, the Icelandic public had donated 300 million kroner (about $3,000,000) to the relief effort. The same winter, two more avalanches fell from Traðargil , destroying several houses; the areas hit had already been evacuated, so no more people died. Avalanches fell from many other gullies and mountainsides during the avalanche cycle that winter. At a public mee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suðureyri
Suðureyri () is a small Icelandic fishing village perched on the tip of the 13 km-long Súgandafjörður in the Westfjords. The community was isolated for years by the huge mountains and rough road that led over them. Now it is connected to Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ... by a 5 km tunnel. The village has tours set up to allow visitors to experience traditional Icelandic life firsthand. This includes going out on original fishing boats or visiting the fish factory in town. Amenities include a geothermal swimming pool, campsite, hotel and a restaurant. The church was built in 1937. Climate References External links Fisherman Hotel Sudureyri Populated places in Westfjords Fishing communities Fishing communities in Icelan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flateyri
Flateyri ( Icelandic: ) is a village situated in Iceland's Westfjords. It is part of the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær and has a population of approximately 200, making it the largest settlement in Önundarfjörður. History Flateyri has been a trading post since 1792 and temporarily became a major whaling center in the 19th century. On October 26, 1995, an avalanche hit the village, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, which resulted in 20 fatalities. Since then a deflecting dam has been built to protect the village from any further avalanches. In the 1990s, Flateyri prospered as a fishing village, but after the 2008–2011 financial crisis hit its main fishing companies shut down, and many people left. A German fishing company has set up base in Flateyri and is currently fishing in and just out of Önundarfjörður. The Esso gas station in Flateyri was the subject of a Belgian documentary in a series about gas stations around the world. The avalanche 1995 was al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tálknafjörður
Tálknafjörður () is a fjord located in southern Westfjords between Patreksfjörður and Bildudalur in Iceland. The term is also used for the immediate village and municipality. In January 2011, the municipality had 306 inhabitants, of whom 294 lived within the town proper. On the land side the municipality is surrounded by the municipality of Vesturbyggð. There is considerable cooperation between the two municipalities but unification was voted down in the latest election. The town of Tálknafjörður was formerly named Sveinseyri or Tunga . By road, the distance to Ísafjörður, the largest city in the West Fjords, is 137 km, and 403 km to Reykjavík. This distance can be significantly shortened by the ferry from Brjánslækur to Stykkishólmur. Since 2006, there has been a small group of summerhouses for sea angling Recreational fishermen usually fish either from a boat or from a shoreline or river bank. When fishing from a boat, or fishing vessel, most f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
