Skagafjörður (municipality)

Skagafjörður
—  Municipality  —
Location of the Municipality of Skagafjörður
Country  Iceland
Constituency[1] Norðvesturkjördæmi
Region[2] Norðurland vestra
County Skagafjarðarsýsla
Area
 • Total 4,180 km2 (1,613.9 sq mi)
Population (January 2011)
 • Total 4,110
Time zone GMT (UTC+0)
Post Code 550-570

Skagafjörður is a municipality that covers most the land area of the region around the fjord with the same name (see Skagafjörður for details on the region) in northern Iceland.

Overview

The municipality was created in 1998 when 11 out of the 12 municipalities in Skagafjörður held votes on whether they should merge or not. The merge was approved in all the municipalities that held the vote. Akrahreppur was the only municipality in Skagafjörður that did not participate.

The merge joined together the town of Sauðárkrókur, the villages of Hofsós and Varmahlíð and several rural districts. It also includes the historic cathedral site of Hólar which is the site of a growing university today. The municipality today has about 4,100 inhabitants out of which 2,600 live in Sauðárkrókur.

References

  1. ^ Political division
  2. ^ Mainly statistical division