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

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. An vote was held in February 2022 where 97.8% of Blönduós inhabitants and 62.3% of Húnavatnshreppur inhabitants voted w ...

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 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

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

(born 1993), singer, musician and actress

Twin towns – sister cities

Blönduós is twinned with: *

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

, 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 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

, Sweden *

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

, Norway *

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

, Finland

Climate

Blönduós has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

(ET).

References

External links

Statistics IcelandMore information and photos about Blönduós town on Hit IcelandOfficial website"Textile Museum Homepage""Textile Center Homepage"
Former municipalities of Iceland Populated places in Northwestern Region (Iceland) States and territories disestablished in 2022 {{Iceland-geo-stub