Flateyri
| Flateyri | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Location of the Municipality of Ísafjarðarbær | |
  Flateyri Location of the Municipality of Ísafjarðarbær | |
| Coordinates: 66°03′N 23°31′W / 66.050°N 23.517°W | |
| Country |
 |
| Constituency[1] | Northwest Constituency |
| Region[2] | Westfjords |
| Municipality | Ísafjarðarbær |
| Population (January 2011) | |
| • Total | around 180 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
Flateyri is a village situated in Iceland's Westfjords. With a population of approximately 180, it is the largest settlement in Önundarfjörður.
History
Flateyri has been a trading post since 1792, and temporarily became a major whaling center in the 19th century. In October 1995 an avalanche hit the village, destroying 29 homes and killing 20 people. Since then a deflecting dam has been built to protect the village from any further avalanches. In the 1990s, Flateyri prospered as a fishing village and, but after the 2008–11 financial crisis hit its main fishing companies shut down and many people left. A German fishing company has set up base in Flateyri and is currently fishing in and just out of Önundarfjörður.
The Esso gas station in Flateyri was the subject of a Belgian documentary in a series about gas stations around the world. The avalanche 1995 was also a subject of a feature documentary, 66°23 North West (The Day of The Avalanche), which premiered in a Reykjavik cinema on the 15th anniversary of the avalanche in 2010.[3]
References
- ↑ Political division
- ↑ Mainly statistical division
- ↑ "The Night We Never Forget". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2016-07-03.