Sauðárkrókur
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| Sauðárkrókur | |
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  Sauðárkrókur
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| Coordinates: 65°44′N 19°38′W / 65.733°N 19.633°W | |
| Constituency | North-west |
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| Government | |
| - District manager (Sveitarstjóri) | Guðmundur Guðlaugsson |
| Population (December 1, 2008) | |
| - Total | 2,598 |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) |
| Postal Codes: 550 | |
| Website | http://www.skagafjordur.is/ |
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Sauðárkrókur is a town in Skagafjörður in northern Iceland and a part of the municipality of Skagafjörður. Sauðárkrókur is the largest town in Northwest Iceland and the second-largest town on the north coast of Iceland, with a population of 2598[1]. It is the centre for commerce and services in the district, and an important link in Iceland's food production. The population of Sauðárkrókur has grown steadily in recent years, and its economy is relatively diverse. Economic mainstays are fisheries, dairy production, light industry and broad-based services such as computer and engineering operations, financials, consulting, design and printing.
The natural hot pool located 15 km (10 miles) north of Sauðárkrókur is mentioned in the Grettis saga.
[edit] The name of the town
Sauðárkrókur got its name from the creek that runs through the land. The creek is named Sauðá, and the name Sauðárkrókur indicates that this is the coast where Sauðá meets the Ocean.
[edit] History
[edit] First settlements
Iceland was settled in the late 800’s mostly by a Scandinavian tribe, known as the Vikings. The Skagafjörður region had many settlers, that divided the land according to rules that were commonly acknowledged by the settlers. The land where Sauðárkrókur stands was first taken by the Viking Sæmundr Suðureyski (Sæmundur from south islands, probably from Sweden), but as he was marking his land another Viking, called Skefill, “stole” the land where the oldest part of the town is today, and got away with it for some reason. These settlers did not built their homes at Sauðárkrókur and real settlement where the town is today, did not happen until about thousand years later.
[edit] Market and merchants
Docking ships in Skagafjörður was not an easy task for sailors and merchants. Few natural harbors are to be found, especially at the west coast of the fjord, and most merchants did doc at the merchant places of Hofsós, Grafarós and Kolkuós at the east coast of the fjord and during the time of the Danish monopoly (1602-1787) Hofsós was the only allowed merchant place in Skagafjörður. At the same time did the river Héraðsvötn make for a huge obstacle for those living on the west side of the fjord and as many experienced was the route to the market death threatening. As the population in the west side of the valley grew, so did the need for an accessible marketplace and several times privateers tried their luck by selling and buying from their ships by the shore of Sauðárkrókur even though this type of handle was illegal. In 1856 Sauðárkrókur became an official coastline commerce place, meaning it was allowed for merchants to sell and buy goods from a shipside.
[edit] The first inhabitants
In 1871 the first real settlement in Sauðárkrókur took place. The blacksmith Árni Árnason with his wife Sigríður Eggertsdóttir and several kids, built a home with the purpose of providing blacksmith services to the ever growing farming society in this prosperous region. In addition the couple decided to sell drinks and overnight services, this part of the business grew fast and became real popular and earned Árni a new nickname, “Árni Vert” or “bartender Árni”. In 1873 the first merchant settled in Sauðárkrókur. The shop keeper Erlendur Hallsson built the second house in this soon to be village doing his business out of his living room. At the millennium 1900 around 400 inhabitants lived in this small but dynamic cluster of houses that was evolving in to a fully formed village with hospital, school and a church in building
[edit] Climate
Don’t let the name deceive you. Although being named Iceland, it is not constantly sub zero temperatures in Iceland. Average temperature year round in Sauðárkrókur is undeniably low compared to Mediterranean countries or about 3,1°C (37,5°F) but as the average low temperature is only around -5°C in the coldest months of the year (January-February) it states that it does not get significantly cold here.
Being the next door neighbor to the North Atlantic Sea, the region is quite windy. In fact Sauðárkrókur is renown for a stationary wind, a weather phenomenon that occurs during hot summer days. Windy but not stormy is the right way to describe the weather in the region, since harsh storms are rare happenings. Average wind in the town of Sauðárkrókur is 6,7 m/s with the head wind directions from North and South to South-west.
The average annual precipitation is about 514 mm (20 inches) distributed fairly evenly over the year, although spring and early summer seems to be the driest season. This is in comparison little lower precipitation than in London, half of the annual precipitation in New York and only 60% of the average annual precipitation in Reykjavík, capitol of Iceland for example.
[edit] External links
- The official webpage for the municipality of Skagafjörður
- Tourist webpage for the destination Skagafjörður
- Information for investors and industries
- Nordic Adventure Travel
- Nortwest.is
- Eagle Air (domestic flight schedule)
[edit] References
Coordinates: 65°44′46″N 19°38′22″W / 65.74611°N 19.63944°W
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