Ólafsfjörður

Ólafsfjörður
Town

Location of the Municipality of Fjallabyggð
Ólafsfjörður

Location of Ólafsfjörður

Coordinates: 66°04′N 18°39′W / 66.067°N 18.650°W / 66.067; -18.650
Country  Iceland
Constituency[1] Northeast Constituency
Region[2] Northeastern Region
Municipality Fjallabyggð
Population (January 2011)
  Total 824
Postal code 625
Website Municipal website
Ólafsfjarðarbaer
Former Municipality

Location of the former Municipality of Ólafsfjarðarbaer
Country  Iceland

Ólafsfjörður is a town in the northeast of Iceland located at the mouth of the fjord Eyjafjörður.

The town is connected to Eyjafjordur via the 3.5 km one-lane Múli tunnel (the Múlagöng). Fishing is the main industry in the town and several fishing trawlers make their home in the town's harbor.

The municipality of Ólafsfjörður and Siglufjörður has merged to form a municipality called Fjallabyggð, which literally means Mountain Settlement.

History

The town grew up around the herring industry that was in much bloom in the 1940s and 1950s, but the herring are gone now.

Ólafsfjörður was connected with a road for the first time in 1940, when the horse riding trail through Lágheiði was improved enabling cars to get over the heath. Before, ships, seaplanes, and horses provided the transport.

Economy

Tourism has become an important industry.

References

  1. Political division
  2. Mainly statistical division

Media related to Ólafsfjörður at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 66°04′N 18°39′W / 66.067°N 18.650°W / 66.067; -18.650

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.