Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of

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 ...

on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is served by Húsavík Airport.

Overview

Income is derived from tourism and fishing, as well as retail and small industry. Until recently, Húsavík was the export harbour for

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...

that was extracted from nearby lake

Mývatn () is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, not far from Krafla volcano. It has a high amount of biological activity. The lake and the surrounding wetlands provides a habitat for a number of waterbirds, e ...

. According to the '' Landnámabók'' ("Book of Settlement"), Húsavík was the first place in Iceland to be settled by a Norseman. The

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Garðar Svavarsson stayed there for one winter around 870 A.D. When he left the island in spring of 870, after a winter's stay, he left behind a man named

Náttfari Náttfari (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; c.835) was a crew member who escaped his master, Garðar Svavarsson, and may have become the first permanent resident of Iceland in the 9th century. The earliest account of his story is found in the 11th ...

and two slaves, a man and a woman, and they established a farm here. The name of the town means "bay of houses", probably referring to Garðar's homestead, which may have been the only houses then in Iceland.

Tourism

Húsavík has become a centre of

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

in Iceland due to whales of different species that frequently enter the bay. The Húsavík Whale Museum is located in the town centre by the harbour. In town there is also a civic museum about culture and biology. Among other things, it shows a stuffed polar bear (arrived in

Grímsey Grímsey () is a small Icelandic island, off the north coast of the main island of Iceland, straddling the Arctic Circle. In January 2018 Grímsey had 61 inhabitants. Before 2009, Grimsey constituted the ''hreppur'' (municipality) of Grí ...

in 1969) and ancient boats. Each year in mid July, Húsavík holds a festival called ''Mærudagar'' , which translates to “Candy Days”. Thousands of people from all over Iceland come to the tiny town to enjoy this occasion which consists of music, colourful decorations, and an array of food and drink. Húsavík is also home to The Exploration Museum, a museum about the history of human exploration. A monument honouring the Apollo astronauts that trained around Húsavík during the 1960s is located outside the museum. The Eurovision Museum, dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest, had its soft opening in October 2021. An official grand opening will happen sometime in 2022. The region of Mývatn, with its interesting geology and diverse animal life, is nearby. Jökulsárgljúfur National Park with the horseshoe-shaped canyon

Ásbyrgi Ásbyrgi () is a glacial canyon and forest in the north of Iceland, located approximately east of Húsavík on the Diamond Circle road. The horseshoe-shaped depression is part of the Vatnajökull National Park and measures approximately 3.5 ...

and the waterfalls Dettifoss, Hafragilsfoss and Selfoss is also not far from the town.

Sports

ÍF Völsungur is the local football club. They last played in Iceland's top tier in the 1988 season.

Popular culture

Húsavík served as the setting of the 2020

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film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', a comedic story of two Húsavík natives representing Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest, with one of the film's songs named after the town. The song itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 202 ...

. The song's taped

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

performance was filmed on location in Húsavík. In a break with Oscar tradition, all five songs had their performances pre-taped due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

instead of being performed live. "Húsavík" was the only one of the five nominated songs to have its pre-taped performance take place outside of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. On 25 April 2021, the performance aired along with pre-taped performances of the other four nominated songs in that year's category. All five song performances were shown during the red carpet pre-show special that took place just before the main ceremony began. Residents of the town reported a significant jump in tourism following the film's release. In 2021, The Eurovision Museum opened in Húsavík telling the story of the song contest and the film.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Karlskoga Karlskoga () is a locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, Sweden. Located within Örebro County, 45 km (28 mi) west of Örebro, and 10 km (6 mi) north of Degerfors. With a 2020 population of 27,386 distributed over 10.55 square miles (2 ...

, Sweden *

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the ...

, Norway *

Riihimäki Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...

, Finland * Aalborg, Denmark *

Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertarsuaq () is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen known as Arctic Station. ...

, Greenland * Fuglafjørður, Faroe Islands * Eastport, Maine, USA

Climate

Húsavík has a mild winter subarctic climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Dfc'') or a subpolar oceanic climate (''Cfc'') depending on the isotherm used, or , similar to the rest of coastal Iceland.

Daylight hours

Húsavík experiences

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...

from 11 June until 29 June. Although Húsavík doesn't experience polar night in December solstice, the shortest daylight hours in Húsavík are 2 hours 45 minutes, from 11:45 UTC until 14:30 UTC on 21 December.

Gallery

File:Husavik Harbor 2006.jpg, Húsavík harbour (1) File:Husavik1.jpg, Church of Húsavík, Húsavíkurkirkja File:Husavik whales.JPG, Whales in Skjalfandi near Húsavík

References

External links

Official tourist information website Official website

Whalewatching and information about whalesHúsavík whale watching
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husavik Populated places in Northeastern Region (Iceland)