Húsavík

Húsavík
Town
2005 view from the harbor
Location of the Municipality of Norðurþing
Húsavík Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 66°03′N 17°19′W / 66.050°N 17.317°W / 66.050; -17.317Coordinates: 66°03′N 17°19′W / 66.050°N 17.317°W / 66.050; -17.317
Country	Iceland
Constituency	Northeast Constituency
Region	Northeastern Region
Municipality	Norðurþing
Government
• Sveitarstjóri	Kristján Þór Magnússon
Population (2016)
• Total	2,182
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
Post Code	640, 645
Website	Official website

Húsavík is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,182 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is served by Húsavík Airport.

Income is derived from tourism and fishing, as well as retail and small industry. Until recently, Húsavík was the export harbour for silica that was extracted from nearby lake Mývatn.

According to the Landnámabók ("Book of Settlement"), Húsavík was the first place in Iceland to be settled by a Norse man. The Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarsson stayed there for one winter around 870 A.D. When he left the island in spring of 870, after a winter's stay, he left behind a man named Nattfari and two slaves, a man and a woman, and they established a farm here. The name of the town means "bay of houses", probably referring to Garðar's homestead, which may have been the only houses then in Iceland.

Húsavík has become a centre of whale watching in Iceland due to whales of different species that frequently enter the bay. The Húsavík Whale Museum is located in the downtown by the harbour.

In town there is also a civic museum about culture and biology. Among other things, it shows a stuffed polar bear (arrived in Grimsey in 1969) and ancient boats.

Húsavík is also home to The Exploration Museum, a museum about the history of human exploration. A monument honoring the Apollo astronauts that trained around Húsavík during the 1960s is located outside the museum.

The region of Mývatn, with its interesting geology and diverse animal life, is nearby. Jökulsárgljúfur National Park with the horseshoe-shaped canyon Ásbyrgi and the waterfalls Dettifoss, Hafragilsfoss and Selfoss is also not far from the town.