Eyjafjörður is the longest fjord in central northern Iceland. It is located in the second most populous region of Iceland. The name literally means: "Island Fjord" which is derived from Hrísey island.

Physical geography

The fjord is long and narrow, it measures 60 km from mouth to bottom. Its greatest width is 25 km between Siglunes and Gjögurtá at the fjord's mouth but for the greater part of its length it is usually 6-10 km wide. Two smaller fjords branch out of Eyjafjörður's west side, Ólafsfjörður and Héðinsfjörður .

The fjord is surrounded by hills and mountains on both sides but the mountains are considerable taller on the west side in the mountain range of Tröllaskagi peninsula. In the outer part of the fjord there are no lowlands along the coast as the steep hills roll directly into the sea but further south in the fjord there are strips of lowland along both coast but wider on the west side.

Several valleys lead from Eyjafjörður, most of them to the west where the two most significant are: Hörgárdalur and Svarfaðardalur . Dalsmynni is the only valley on the east side. However the greatest valley in Eyjafjörður is also called Eyjafjörður and runs directly south from the fjord itself. It is long and wide and home to one of Iceland's greatest agricultural regions.

Many rivers flow into Eyjafjörður, the most significant being Eyjafjarðará , Fnjóská and Hörgá .

The island of Hrísey in the middle of Eyjafjörður is the second largest island of the coast of Iceland and often referred to as "The Pearl of Eyjafjörður".

People

The region of Eyjafjörður is Iceland's second most populous one after the Reykjavík area in Southwest Iceland. The total population of the region was 21,536 in 2003 (excluding the town of Siglufjörður and the island of Grímsey that are often associated with Eyjafjörður but do not belong to it in geographical sense.)

The largest town by far is Akureyri, other settlements in the region are: Ólafsfjörður , Dalvík, Hrísey, Árskógssandur , Hauganes , Hjalteyri , Hrafnagil , Svalbarðseyri and Grenivík . Most of these settlements base their livelihood on fisheries and agriculture but Akureyri is a service center as well and the site of a growing university

See also: Fjords of Iceland