Blönduós () is a town and former municipality in the north of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

with a population of 895 in 2018. Like many towns and villages around Iceland, Blönduós did not emerge as a village until the late 19th century. The town is situated on Route 1 at the mouth of the glacial river

Blanda The Blanda () is a river in Iceland which flows northwards from the northwest side of the Hofsjökull glacier into Húnaflói bay at Blönduós. The Blanda is one of the longest rivers in the country, with a length of about 125 km, and has a ...

. Hrútey , a small island and natural reserve encircled by the river, is accessible via a pedestrian bridge just off the ring road. In 2022, the town merged with

Húnavatnshreppur Húnavatnshreppur () is a former rural municipality located in northwestern Iceland. History The municipality was formed on 1 January 2006 by the union of the former municipalities of Sveinsstaðahreppur , Torfalækjarhreppur , Svínavatnsh ...

to form

Húnabyggð Húnabyggð () is a municipality in the north of Iceland, which was formed with the merger of Blönduós and Húnavatnshreppur. A vote was held in February 2022 where 97.8% of Blönduós inhabitants and 62.3% of Húnavatnshreppur inhabitants voted ...

Geography

One of Blönduós' main characteristics is that the town is split into two parts by the glacial river

, for which it is named (Blöndu is an oblique

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

of Blanda). The old part of town ( Icelandic: "gamli bærinn"), including many original houses from the late 19th and early 20th century, is located on the south side of the river. Many of the local companies, the elementary school, supermarket, community center and sports facilities including a modern outdoor heated pool are located on the north side. On a hill above town is a church with striking architecture that is intended to resemble a volcanic crater.

Economy

Most of the industry and livelihood in Blönduós evolve around service for agriculture and tourism. In recent years, the town has become known for its connection with textiles. A wool washery, Iceland's only textile museum and th
Icelandic Textile Center
featuring a residency program for international textile artists and scholars, are all located in Blönduós.

Notable people

Þorvaldur Skúlason Þorvaldur Skúlason (April 30, 1906 – August 30, 1984) was an Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America a ...

(1906–1984), abstract painter, lived in Blönduós 1909–1924 *

Reynir Grétarsson Reynir F. Grétarsson (born 29 December 1972) is an Icelandic entrepreneur, philanthropist, Icelandic map collector and author of "About Mapping Iceland" Founder and former CEO of Creditinfo Group, a multinational credit bureau and risk managem ...

(born 1972), Icelandic entrepreneur, philanthropist, Icelandic map collector and author of "About Mapping Iceland" Founder and former CEO and current chairman of the Board of Creditinfo Group *

María Ólafsdóttir María Ólafsdóttir (born 2 February 1993), known outside Iceland as María Ólafs, is an Icelandic singer, musician, and actress. She represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th e ...

(born 1993), singer, musician and actress *

Eydís Evensen Eydís Helena Evensen (born 5 February 1994), is an Icelandic pianist, vocalist, and former model. Her 2021 debut album, ''Bylur'', charted at #23 on the UK Classical Artist Albums Chart and she was listed on The Line of Best Fit's 2021 ''Artis ...

(born 1994), composer, singer and musician

Twin towns – sister cities

Blönduós is twinned with: *

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

, Denmark *

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

, Sweden *

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

, Norway *

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

, Finland

Climate

Blönduós has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(ET).

References

External links

Statistics IcelandMore information and photos about Blönduós town on Hit Iceland

Official website"Textile Museum Homepage""Textile Center Homepage"
Former municipalities of Iceland Populated places in Northwestern Region (Iceland) States and territories disestablished in 2022 Austur-Húnavatnssýsla {{Iceland-geo-stub