Reyðarfjörður () is a town in

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 ...

. It has a population of 1,368 (2024) 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 (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Eskifjör� ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

Mjóifjörður Mjóifjörður (, "narrow fjord") is a village of 7 people in East Iceland, sitting on a fjord of the same name. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. History In the early 20th century, the village was a Norwegian whaling station. The ...

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 ...

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 an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

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 in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the '' E ...

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

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. 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 Hamburg, Manch ...

. 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 ( ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annually for Alcoa's Fjarðaál Aluminium smelting, alu ...

in the neighboring municipality of

Fljótsdalshérað Fljótsdalshérað () was a municipality located in eastern Iceland. In 2020 it merged with three neighbouring municipalities to form Múlaþing Múlaþing () is a municipality in eastern Iceland which was formed in 2020 from the merger of Fljó ...

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 David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

of Reykjavik. Tencer is a Capuchin Franciscan and a native of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and the church building was a gift from the

Slovak Catholic Church Slovak Catholic Church may refer to: * Catholic Church in Slovakia, incorporating all communities and institutions of the Catholic Church in Slovakia * Slovak Greek Catholic Church The Slovak Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine Catholic Church i ...

. The church was built from wood in Slovakia, disassembled and shipped to Reydarfjordur, where it was re-assembled.

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

, the

Prime Minister of Slovakia The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic (Slovak language, Slovak: ''Predseda vlády Slovenskej republiky''), commonly referred to in Slovakia as ''Predseda vlády'' or informally as ''Prem ...

, 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

References

External links

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