Reyðarfjörður
| Reyðarfjörður | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 65 ° 2 ′ N , 14 ° 13 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Iceland | ||
| Austurland | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | IS-7 | ||
| local community | Fjarðabyggð | ||
| Residents | 1348 (January 1, 2019) | ||
 |
|||
Reyðarfjörður [ ˈreiːðarˌfjœrðʏr ] is a place on the fjord of the same name in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð ( Austurland region ) in eastern Iceland .
On January 1, 2019, Reyðarfjörður had 1348 inhabitants. The place as well as the former rural community Reyðarfjörður ( Reyðarfjarðarhreppur ) belong to the municipality Fjarðabyggð since June 7, 1998 .
There are several museums in the place, including a war museum.
history
Around 850 the Faroese Viking Naddoddur is said to have landed here . According to the Landnámabók , he would be the discoverer of Iceland.
In 1998 four Faroese adventurers rowed in the rowing boat Naddoddur to Reyðarfjörður, where they were enthusiastically received. Originally they wanted to sail, but because of a persistent lull, they got into the oars and dared the 240 nautical mile tour instead of turning back comfortably.
Reyðarfjörður used to be called Búðareyri .
Aluminum plant
An aluminum plant was built in the village, although there are hardly any raw materials in Iceland. The reason is the very cheap electricity available (on Iceland in 2015 according to other sources approx. 4 euro cents per kWh) from the Kárahnjúkar power plant . With the associated settlement of workers and their families, the infrastructure project was able to reverse the long-lasting population decline in East Iceland. Between December 2004 and December 2006 the population of Reyðarfjörður increased from 692 to 2238.
The construction of the dam at Kárahnjúkar , which is necessary for the energy supply of the plant, was the most controversial construction project in Iceland. The construction made a massive impact on the nature of the East Icelandic highlands. So it directly cut the changes of the largest population of Icelandic wild reindeer and is also in the sphere of influence of active volcanoes, i. H. the crevices under the reservoir belong to the Kverkfjöll system .
Trivia
Reyðarfjörður location is actually on Spitsbergen gambling television series Fortitude .
Sons and daughters of the place
- Baldur Ragnarsson (1930–2018), Esperanto writer
- Vilhjálmur Einarsson (1934–2019), track and field athlete
