Grindavík
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| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| State : |
 Iceland
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| Region: | Suðurnes |
| Constituency : | Suðurkjördæmi |
| Sýsla : | circular |
| Population: | 3427 (January 1, 2019) |
| Surface: | 425 km² |
| Population density: | 8.06 inhabitants / km² |
| Post Code: | 240 |
| politics | |
| Community number | 2300 |
| Mayor: | Ólafur Örn Ólafsson |
| Contact | |
| Website: | www.grindavik.is |
| map | |
Coordinates: 63 ° 50 ′ 31 ″ N , 22 ° 26 ′ 16 ″ W. |
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Grindavík ( Eng . "Lattice Bay") is a city in southwest Iceland on the Reykjanesskagi peninsula .
General
The city has one of the few ports on the flat south coast. Most of the approximately 3,000 inhabitants work in the fishing industry. On January 1, 2019, Grindavík had 3427 inhabitants. The distance to Reykjavík is 39 km.
history
The area was already settled when the land was taken in 934, according to the land acquisition book . When the Danish trade monopoly was introduced in 1602 , Grindavík was made a trading port. The place did not have a natural harbor, however, but the boats were pulled ashore for centuries.
In 1627 the so-called Turkish attack took place. Algerian pirates attacked Icelandic coastal towns with four ships, including Grindavík, but especially the Vestmannaeyjar, and robbed a total of over 300 women and children. These were deported to North Africa and sold into slavery . About a third of them could be bought out after years.
With the construction of a new port in Hópið in 1939, the fishing conditions eased and the fishing industry settled down. In 1974 Grindavík became an independent municipality.
Fishing and economy
The majority of the inhabitants live from fishing, processing and trading. There are very good fishing grounds right in front of Grindavík on the shelf of the Reykjanes ridge. As a result, the now expanded port is of great importance for the country's economy.
The fish caught off the coast - mostly herring , capelin , sea wolf and cod - were dried and preserved in this way until the end of the 19th century. However, since the end of the 19th century it has been placed in salt and frozen since the second half of the 20th century.
There is also the Grindavík Salt Fish Museum , which shows fishing and processing methods.
In the meantime, more and more people are commuting to Reykjavík and land prices are rising accordingly.
Sports
In Grindavík there is the UMF Grindavík (UMFG) sports club .
Attractions
About four kilometers north of Grindavík is the Blue Lagoon (Icelandic: Bláa Lónið), a geothermal spring that uses hot mineral water from the nearby Svartsengi power station.
On the southeast of the resort peninsula of Hópsnes the grellorangene lighthouse stands Hópsnesviti of 1928. In the area of the tower some badly rusted wrecks of ships that wrecked in the dangerous surf the coast.
In addition, there are two churches in Grindavík: the older, traditionally corrugated iron clad Grindavíkurkirkja eldri from 1909 and the larger concrete church Grindavíkurkirkja yngri from 1982.
US armed forces transmitter
In Grindavik there is a long wave transmitter of the US armed forces. It has 2 transmitter masts, which are 182.9 meters and 304.8 meters high and were built in 1983 and 1993 respectively. The latter is the second tallest structure in Iceland.
Sons and daughters of the church
- Guðbergur Bergsson (* 1932), writer
- Kalli Bjarni , first winner of the Icelandic edition of Pop Idol
- Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir (* 1997), soccer player
Town twinning
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Penistone , United Kingdom -
Rovaniemi , Finland -
Hirtshals , Denmark -
Jonzac , France -
Piteå , Sweden -
Ílhavo , Portugal
