Hólmavík () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the western part of

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 regi ...

, by

Steingrímsfjörður The fjords of Iceland, listed in a clockwise direction round the island from the SW to the east. There are no important fjords along the south coast: most of the inlets there are lagoons. Western fjords *Faxaflói ** Stakksfjörður ** Hafnarfj� ...

. It is the largest settlement in

Strandir Strandir () is the eastern coastal region of Iceland's Westfjords (Strandasýsla). It encompasses 3,500 square kilometers and is considered remote and difficult to access. It has a population of around 800 people, with the largest community being ...

and serves as a centre of commerce for the county. Hólmavík is part of the Strandabyggð municipality and has 375 inhabitants (2011 census). Hólmavík is home to the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft and the Holmadrangur shrimp processing plant. The modern church was built in 1968. Well-known people from Hólmavík include the poet

Stefán frá Hvítadal Stefán is a common first name in Iceland. According to Icelandic custom, people are generally referred to by first and middle names and patronyms are used if disambiguation is required. ''Stefán'' is the Icelandic version of the Greek name Ste ...

and the musician Gunnar Þórðarson of the band

Hljómar Thor's Hammer, or Hljómar, was an Icelandic rock band primarily active in the 1960s. Outside of Iceland, they are known among music collectors for their rare releases on Parlophone, sung in English and recorded in London for export. The most ...

. The artist

Einar Hákonarson Einar Hákonarson (born 14 January 1945, in Reykjavík, Iceland) is one of Iceland's best known artists. He is an expressionistic and figurative painter who brought the figure back into Icelandic painting in 1968. He is a pioneer in the Icelan ...

has a studio and a home in Hólmavík. Hólmavík boasts a swimming pool constructed in 2004. It is the only pool in the region not geothermally heated. Near Húsavík and Tröllatunga, two farms in the South of Hólmavík,

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

and iron ore were exploited in former times, and some fossils from the

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

period were found there as well.Örlygur Hálfdánarson: ''Iceland Roadguide'', p.256. Reykjavík 1981.

Transportation

Hólmavík is served by

Hólmavík Airport Hólmavík Airport is an airport serving Hólmavík, Iceland. The Holmavik non-directional beacon (Ident: HK) is located southeast of the airport. See also * Transport in Iceland *List of airports in Iceland This is a list of airports in ...

. There have not been any scheduled flights to Hólmavík since 1997. Bus schedule is provided by Strætó, Reykjavík City Bus.

References

Populated places in Westfjords {{Iceland-geo-stub