Neskaupstaður
| Neskaupstaður | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
View of Neskaupstaður
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 Location of the Municipality of Fjarðabyggð |
|
 Neskaupstaður
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| Coordinates: 65°09′N 13°42′W / 65.150°N 13.700°W | |
| Country |
 Iceland
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| Constituency | Northeast Constituency |
| Region | Eastern Region |
| Municipality |
 Fjarðabyggð
|
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 1,481 |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) |
| Website | Official website |
Neskaupstaður is a town located on the fjord Norðfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and, as of 2016, it has a population of 1,481. Neskaupstaður is the third largest town in Eastern Region. The town was originally built on a farm called "Nes", settled by Egill rauði ("the red").
The town's location places it farther north than Alaskan cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks. The town was also known as "Little Moscow" in the past for its strong socialist background.
Until 1949, the town was only accessible by boat. Now it is connected through a 626-meter long single-lane tunnel that passes through the Oddskard mountains. The tunnel is 632 meters above the sea level. The tunnel was built between 1974-1977.
It suffered severe depopulation in the 1990s, but this has been reversed as a result of the building of an aluminum smelter and a new hydroelectric power-plant in East Iceland.
Neskaupstaður joined Eskifjörður and Reyðarfjörður in 1998 to form the new municipality of Fjarðabyggð ("fjords-settlement").
The other villages composing the municipality are: Eskifjörður (1,043 inh.), Fáskrúðsfjörður (662 inh.), Mjóifjörður (35 inh.), Reyðarfjörður (1,102 inh.) and Stöðvarfjörður (203 inh.).
On 20 December 20, 1974, avalanches came from the entire mountainside above the town, killing 12 people. Intense snowfall had been reported in the area over the previous few days. Along with the snow came a strong wind that apparently loosened the snow that had fallen on the mountains. According to some accounts, the first small-scale avalanche actually occurred on 19 December; however, due to low visibility, no-one noticed it. Since the time of the deadly avalanches, a number of protective barriers have been installed with the aim of avoiding future avalanches. Prior to the 1974 avalanche, in 1885 and 1894, two other avalanches had been recorded, with the former causing several deaths in two farms.
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Wikipedia