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Höfn - Town - East Iceland

Region: East

GPS: N64°15.185 W15°12.667

About: (Description)
Höfn is a town situated on the coast of Hornafjörður fjord and belonged to the municipality of Nesjahreppur until the town became its own municipality with some 300 inhabitants in 1946.

It was granted town status on 31. December 1988. The municipality merged with Nesjahreppur and Mýrarhreppur in 1994, and four years later all the district municipalities merged into a single Municipality of Hornafjörður.

Höfn is situated by the mouth of Hornafjörður fjord, and major structures have been erected to safeguard the passing of ships. The primary industries are fishing, tourism, trade and manufacturing.

The town has a district commissioner's office, a health care centre, a folk museum, the Jöklasetur centre and in the same building there is a tourist information desk, the site of Hornafjörður Cultural Centre, a university centre, a new ventures centre and the Austur Skaftafellssýsla Upper Secondary School, among other things, a swimming pool and a nature reserve at Ósland.

The majority of migrating birds to Iceland first reach land in the Hornafjörður region; hence a bird research centre has been set up at Höfn.

Trade was moved from Papós to Höfn in 1897. At the Höfn harbor there is a memorial to the arrival of first settler Ingólfur Arnarson to Iceland, a gift from Norwegian seafarers in 1997.

How to get there:
From Selfoss take road no. 1 direct to Höfn. Höfn is about 400 km from Selfoss

source Iceland Road Atlas

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