Reyðarfjörður () is a town in

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 ...

. It has a population of 1,350 and is one of the most populated villages that constitute the municipality of Fjarðabyggð.

History

The town is at the bottom of the eponymous

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

, the largest on the east coast of Iceland. Like most other towns in the East Fjords, it is surrounded by mountains, of which the highest is about . Although the climate is particularly rainy and foggy, on clear summer days it often has the highest temperatures in Iceland. From the early 20th century, Reyðarfjörður was a trading port, as well as a fishing port. Due to its strategic location and good harbour conditions, it became the second-largest of the Allied bases in Iceland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. There is a World War II museum located at the old camp above the town. Reyðarfjörður joined

Eskifjörður Eskifjörður (in original spelling; ), or Eskifjördur is a town and port in eastern Iceland with a large fishing industry. With a population of 1,043 it is one of the most populous towns in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. History Eskifjörð ...

and

Neskaupstaður Neskaupstaður () is a town located on the fjord Norðfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and, as of 2016, it has a population of 1,481. Neskaupstaður is the third largest town in Eastern R ...

in 1998 to form the new municipality of Fjarðabyggð ("fjords-settlement").

Geography

The other villages composing the municipality are:

(1,043 inh.), Fáskrúðsfjörður (662 inh.), Mjóifjörður (35 inh.),

(1,437 inh.) and Stöðvarfjörður (203 inh.).

Fjarðaál aluminium smelter

A quiet fishing town since the war, Reyðarfjörður (and neighbouring communities) saw a revival in the early 2000s when

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primar ...

decided to build the Alcoa Fjarðaál aluminium smelter there. It was built between 2004 and 2007 by the contractor

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the '' Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the se ...

, requiring thousands of workers from various countries, most notably from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. At one point, the town had the highest concentration of foreign residents of any community in the country, and the number of workers reached as high as 2,800. By 2008, the construction workers had left. The townspeople have faith in the aluminium plant for the continuing prosperity of their old community, and surrounding communities. The Fjarðaál aluminium smelter reached full production capacity in April 2008. The facility contains a smelter, cast house, rod production and deep-water

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

. The smelter employs 450 people and produces 940 tons of aluminium a day, with capacity of 346,000 metric tons of aluminium per year. Fjarðaál means "Fjords aluminium" in Icelandic. For the smelter, the new

Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( is, Kárahnjúkavirkjun ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( is, Fljótsdalsstöð ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annually ...

in the neighboring municipality of Fljótsdalshérað was built.

Catholic church

On 17 June 2017, a new Catholic Church ( St. Thorlak Church) was consecrated in the town in a ceremony led by Bishop David Tencer of Reykjavik. Tencer is a Capuchin Franciscan and a native of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

and the church building was a gift from the Slovak Catholic Church. The church was built from wood in Slovakia, disassembled and shipped to Reydarfjordur, where it was re-assembled. Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, attended the consecration.

In popular culture

Reyðarfjörður was chosen as the location for the Sky Atlantic series '' Fortitude''. Filming took place during early 2014 for the first series and in 2016 for the second series.

Notes and references

External links

Reyðarfjörður page on Fjarðabyggð municipal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reydarfjordur Populated places in Eastern Region (Iceland)