Vopnafjörður
| Vopnafjarðarhreppur | |
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Skyline of Vopnafjarðarhreppur
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Coat of arms of Vopnafjarðarhreppur
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 Vopnafjarðarhreppur
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| Region | Eastern Region |
| Constituency | Northeast Constituency |
| Manager | Ólafur Áki Ragnarsson |
| Area | 1,903 km2 (735 sq mi) |
| Population | 695 |
| Density | 0.37/km2 (0.96/sq mi) |
| Municipal number | 7502 |
| Postal code(s) | 690 |
| Website | vopnafjardarhreppur |
Vopnafjörður is a village and municipality in Northeast Iceland, standing on a peninsula in the middle of a mountainous bay by the same name. The main industries of Vopnafjörður are fish processing, agriculture and tourism and other services.
Vopnafjörður is known for its salmon rivers and large areas of untouched landscape. Hofsá and Selá are two of the most exclusive salmon rivers in Iceland. The salmon rivers and other attractions in and around Vopnafjörður have drawn numerous foreign visitors, including artists, celebrities and politicians such as Charles, Prince of Wales, George Bush, Sr., Jack Nicklaus and Queen Paola of Belgium.
Vopnafjörður is on Route 85 and has an airport with scheduled flights to Akureyri on business days. Other services include Vopnafjarðarskóli primary school with 99 students, Leikskólinn Brekkubær preschool, Landsbankinn bank and Heilbrigðisstofnun Austurlands clinic.
HB Grandi, Iceland's largest fishing company, is the largest employer in the area. The company runs a high-tech freezing plant and a fishmeal factory in Vopnafjörður.
The bay of Vopnafjörður was first settled by Vikings in the late 9th century CE. The name Vopnafjörður literally means Weapon Fjord or Weapon Bay, and comes from the nickname of one of the settlers, Eyvindur vopni.
Disputes between local chieftains led to a number of killings in the 10th century. The story of the disputes is told in Vopnfirðinga saga, one of the classic Sagas of Icelanders, a series of epic family histories written in the 13th century.
Little is known about the history of Vopnafjörður after Iceland lost its independence to Norway in 1264. Foreign mechants sailed to Vopnafjörður in the early modern age, and it was one of three trade ports in East Iceland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Wikipedia