Eskifjörður (in original spelling; ), or Eskifjördur, is a town and

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 Hamburg, Manch ...

in eastern

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 large

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

industry. With a population of 1,043 it is one of the most populous towns in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð.

History

Eskifjörður had 302 inhabitants in 1901, 425 in 1910, 619 in 1920, 758 in 1930, 671 in 1940, 673 in 1950, 1741 in 1960, 936 in 1970 and 1 084 in 1981. It obtained the rights and privileges of an official trading place (''verslunastaður'') as early as 1786 und was awarded municipal status (''kaupstaðarréttindi'') on 10 April 1974. It developed into a booming community after Örum & Wulff, a powerful Danish trading company, had opened a trading post in 1798. In 1802 Kjartan Þórlaksson, the first Icelandic merchant who was not a Dane, settled down in Eskifjörður and started a successful business. Eskifjörður joined

Neskaupstaður Neskaupstaður () is a town located on the fjord Norðfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland, against the Norwegian Sea. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and, as of 2016, it has a population of 1,481. Neskaupstaður is the second ...

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

Geography

The other villages composing the municipality are:

Fáskrúðsfjörður Fáskrúðsfjörður (; previously named also Búðir ) is a village (''þorp'') in eastern Iceland. It has a population of 735 (as of 2024) and constitutes one of the villages composing the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. Geography Fáskrúðsf ...

(662 inh.), Mjóifjörður (35 inh.),

(1,437 inh.), Reyðarfjörður (1,102 inh.) and

Stöðvarfjörður Stöðvarfjörður (; formerly Kirkjuból ) is a village in east Iceland. It sits on the Northern shore of the fjord of the same name, is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and has less than 200 inhabitants. History Stöðvarfjörður is r ...

(203 inh.).

Main sights

A sculpture by Ragnar Kjartansson is located along the main road in Eskifjördur, commemorating the mariners who drowned at sea. The Maritime Museum of East Iceland is located in a commercial building, "Gamla búđ", which was built in 1816. The museum displays artefacts that illustrate the fishing and seafaring history of East Iceland. It also displays various reminders of local trade, industry and medicine from times past. The First Free Church in Iceland was built in Eskifjörður in 1884. Eskifjörður has one of the most beautiful rare stone collections in Iceland, with thousands of polished, cut and original stones from all over the island, privately owned but visitable.

Notable people

* Aðalsteinn Jónsson, business man and former CEO of ''Hraðfrystihús Eskifjarðar'' * Einar Bragi, poet * Eggert Jónsson, footballer * Þórólfur Guðnason, Chief Epidemiologist of the Icelandic Directorate of Health

References

External links

Visit Eskifjordur tourist guide

Visit Eskifjordur Facebook Fan page for tourist information around Eskifjordur

Facebook Fan page about everything in Eskifjörður

Eskifjörður page on Fjarðabyggð municipal websiteImages of Eskifjörður
on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eskifjordur Eskifjörður Fjords of Iceland Populated places in Eastern Region (Iceland)