Ísafjarðarbær () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in the

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 ...

region, created in 1996 from Flateyrarhreppur, Ísafjarðarkaupstaður, Mosvallahreppur, Mýrahreppur, Suðureyrarhreppur and Þingeyrarhreppur.

Geography

The principal settlement is

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 ...

, others being

Hnífsdalur Hnífsdalur () is a small village in the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær, located between Bolungarvík and Ísafjörður. The literal meaning of the name is "Knife's Valley". Some guess that the thin or sharp line of the mountain range resembles t ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Education

University Centre of the Westfjords The University Centre of the Westfjords (Icelandic language, Icelandic: Háskólasetur Vestfjarða) is a higher education institute located in Ísafjörður, Iceland. It offers integrated master's programmes in Coastal and Marine Management, Marine ...

— a higher education institute in

Flateyri Folk High School Lýðskólinn á Flateyri (English: The Flateyri Folk School) is a folk high school in Flateyri, Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparse ...

— a

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

Menntaskólinn á Ísafirði Menntaskólinn á Ísafirði is an Icelandic Gymnasium (school), gymnasium. It is located in Ísafjörður in the Westfjords. The school year consists of two semesters, fall and spring. Each semester students take a full-time load of courses wort ...

— a gymnasium in

Sports

Local football club Vestri plays in the country's second tier as of 2022. They play their home games at the

Torfnesvöllur Torfnesvöllur (), known as Olísvöllurinn for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Ísafjörður, Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the ...

in Ísafjörður.

Transport

The municipality is served by

Ísafjörður Airport Ísafjörður Airport ( is, Ísafjarðarflugvöllur ) is an airport serving Ísafjörður, a town in the Westfjords ( is, Vestfirðir) region in northwestern Iceland. History Planning for the airport started in 1958 construction of the runway sta ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Ísafjarðarbær is twinned with: *

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

, Finland *

Kaufering Kaufering is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the river Lech. During World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted ...

, Germany *

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

, Sweden *

Runavík Runavík is a comparatively urbanised village in Runavík Municipality, Faroe Islands. It lies on the south half of the isle of Eysturoy. Port Founded in 1916, Runavík has an important port, originally used predominantly by fishing boats but no ...

, Faroe Islands *

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

, Norway

References

External links

Official website
Municipalities of Iceland Westfjords {{Iceland-geo-stub