Búðardalur () is a village situated on the
Hvammsfjörður in the north-west 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 ...
.
The village also lies at the north-eastern end of the
Snæfellsnes
The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland.
The Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland, can be found in the area. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest ...
peninsula and is part of the municipality of
Dalabyggð
Dalabyggð () is a municipality located in western Iceland. Its main settlement is Búðardalur.
Dalabyggð is an agricultural area.
The farm of Hvammur í Dölum, where the poet, historian, and politician Snorri Sturluson was born, belongs ...
. Búðardalur had about 270 inhabitants in 2014 and is a service center for the area, including the regional tourist information centre.
[Frank Jacobs]
"The Map as Address: Cryptic Letter Reaches Icelandic Destination"
''The Big Think'', 4 September 2016.[Andrew Evans, ''Iceland'', 2nd ed. Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England: Bradt Travel Guides, 2011, ]
p. 276
In the traditional system of
counties of Iceland
Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...
that existed until the late 1980s, it was part of
Dalasýsla, a name that is still used for the region.
Overview
Búðardalur contains a supermarket and a petrol station, hair salons, a pub/restaurant, a coffee shop, a health-care centre, an off-licence, a garage
[ and a craft shop; the information centre is in the same building as a cafe and a museum on the Vínland expeditions.][Carolyn Bain and Alexis Averbuck]
"Búðardalur"
9th ed. Footscray, Victoria, Australia / Oakland, California: Lonely Planet, 2015, .
The village has a long history, dating from the time of the first settlements in Iceland. The name means "Camp Valley", or more etymologically straightforward "Boothdale"; it is where settlers had temporary camps when coming to the area. In 1899, Búðardalur was officially granted the right of commerce. An old house from this time still exists.
At a short distance from the village is Eiríksstaðir, the homestead of Erik the Red, who was the first European to discover Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
and whose son Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...
, born at Eiríksstaðir, was the first European to discover America ahead of Columbus.[
]
Climate
Dependin on the isotherm used ( or ), Búðardalur has either the rare dry-summer 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 ...
: ''Dsc'') or the extremely rare cold-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csc) with cold but not severe winters and cool summers.
References
Populated places in Western Region (Iceland)
{{Iceland-geo-stub