Akrafjall
Akrafjall is a volcanic mountain in western Iceland. It is located in the municipality of Hvalfjarðarsveit, east of the city of Akranes. Location Akrafjall is located north of the capital Reykjavík, on a peninsula between the fjords Borgarfjörður and Hvalfjörður Hvalfjörður (, "whale fjord") is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately long and wide. The origin of the name Hvalfjörður is uncertain. Certainly today there is no presence of whales i ... (whale fjord). A mountain with two main summits, Akrafjall is divided by the Berjadalur valley which was cut out by a glacier. The highest peak of the mountain, called Geirmundartindur (Geirmundur Peak), reaches a height of 643 meters. Opposite it is the second highest peak of the mountain, Háihnúkur (555 m). For hiking enthusiasts, a trail leads most of the way to the summit. Depending on a hiker's level of fitness, reaching the summit may take anywhere from 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Akranes
Akranes () is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around north of the capital Reykjavík. The area where Akranes is located was settled in the 9th century; however, it did not receive a municipal charter until 1942. History Akranes was settled in the 9th century by the brothers Þormóður and Ketill, sons of Bresi, who came from Ireland. The town started to form in the mid-17th century as a fishing village. In 1942, it was formally chartered, and in the following years it had the biggest surge in population in its history. Industry has been a big and growing employer: a cement plant has been operated in the town since the 1950s, and an aluminium smelting plant has been in operation near the town since 1998. Economy The fishing industry remains the town's most important source of employment. Akranes also acts as a service center for the large rural region surrounding it. The town is expected to grow in the coming years because of an increase in industr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hvalfjarðarsveit
Hvalfjarðarsveit () is a municipality in Vesturland, Iceland. The municipality derives its name from the fjord Hvalfjörður, which forms its southern border. The municipality formed on 1 June 2006, by the union of the former municipalities of Hvalfjarðarstrandarhreppur, Innri-Akraneshreppur, Leirár- og Melahreppur and Skilmannahreppur. Geography The shores of Hvalfjörður, Faxaflói and Borgarfjörður form the region's southern and western borders. Hvalfjarðarsveit additionally borders the municipalities of Kjósarhreppur in the south, Akranes in the west, Borgarbyggð and Skorradalshreppur in the north, and Bláskógabyggð in the highlands to the east. The largest settlement in the municipality is Melahverfi with a population of 111 in 2016. Prominent mountains in Hvalfjarðarsveit (from west to east) include Akrafjall, Hafnarfjall, Skarðsheiði and Botnssúlur. Notable lakes (from west to east) include Eiðisvatn, Hólmavatn, Eyrarvatn, Glammastaða ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. Reykjavík has a population of around 139,000 as of 2025. The surrounding Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region has a population of around 249,000, constituting around 64% of the country's population. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which, according to , was established by Ingólfr Arnarson, Ingólfur Arnarson in 874 Anno Domini, AD. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was officially founded in 1786 as a trading town and grew steadily over the following decades, as it transformed into a regional and later Country, national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities. Re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the region's westernmost and most list of countries and dependencies by population density, sparsely populated country. Its Capital city, capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents (excluding nearby towns/suburbs, which are separate municipalities). The official language of the country is Icelandic language, Icelandic. Iceland is on a rift between Plate tectonics, tectonic plates, and its geologic activity includes geysers and frequent Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions. The interior consists of a volcanic plateau with sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, and many Glacial stream, glacial rivers flow to the sea through the Upland and lowland, lowlands. Iceland i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Borgarfjörður
Borgarfjörður () is a fjord in the west of Iceland near the town of Borgarnes. Although the waters of Borgarfjörður appear calm, the fjord has significant undercurrents and shallows. The many flat islands lying in the fjord are for the most part uninhabited. Near Borgarnes, the ''hringvegur'' (road no.1 or "ring road") passes over Borgarfjarðarbrú, a bridge of 0.5 km in length at the inland portion of the fjord. The land around the fjord has been inhabited since the time of Icelandic settlement. Events in the Icelandic sagas such as that of Egill Skallagrímsson are situated here. The name of the fjord seems to have come from the farm ''Borg'', which according to the sagas was founded by Egill's father Skallagrímur, who took the land around the fjord and accordingly gave the fjord the name of Borgarfjörður. While serving as a synonym for the various townships, farms, natural attractions and areas in the region, the various parts of Borgarfjörður are now gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hvalfjörður
Hvalfjörður (, "whale fjord") is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. The fjord is approximately long and wide. The origin of the name Hvalfjörður is uncertain. Certainly today there is no presence of whales in the fjord; while there is a whaling station in the fjord, whaling is conducted in the open ocean outside the fjord; likewise, it is modern and postdates the naming of the fjord. One theory as to the naming of the fjord is that early settlers encountered a pod of whales trapped in the fjord who ended up beached; the stranding of whales was in early Iceland a godsend in the meat that it provided, to the point that the word ''hvalreki'' means both "whale beaching" and "windfall or godsend". However, there is no direct evidence to support this theory. Another theory is that the fjord is named after Hvalfjall ("Whale Mountain", a mountain at the bottom of the fjord), which would have been in turn named after its visual appearance. A common fol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snæfellsjökull
Snæfellsjökull (, ''snow-fell glacier'') is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. It is situated on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa Bay, at a distance of . The mountain is one of the most famous sites of Iceland, primarily due to the novel ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1864 in literature, 1864) by Jules Verne, in which the protagonists find the entrance to a passage leading to the center of the Earth on Snæfellsjökull. The mountain is part of Snæfellsjökull National Park (Icelandic: ''Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull''). Snæfellsjökull was visible from an extreme distance due to an Fata Morgana (mirage), arctic mirage on 17 July 1939. Captain Robert Bartlett (explorer), Robert Bartlett of the ''Effie M. Morrissey'' sighted Snæfellsjökull from a position some distant. In August 2012, the summit was ice-free for the first time in recorded history ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |