Flateyri
Encyclopedia
Flateyri is a village
situated in the Westfjords
of Iceland
.
With a population of approximately 237, it is the largest settlement on Önundarfjörður.
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.
The Esso gas station in Flateyri was the subject of a Belgian documentary
in a series about gas stations around the world. It is home to Kristjan C Wales, Tómas Patrik Sigurðarson and Hörður Sævar Bjarnarson.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
situated in the Westfjords
Westfjords
The Westfjords or West Fjords is the name for the large peninsula in northwestern Iceland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a 7 km wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður. The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by...
of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
.
With a population of approximately 237, it is the largest settlement on 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 avalancheAvalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
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.
The Esso gas station in Flateyri was the subject of a Belgian documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
in a series about gas stations around the world. It is home to Kristjan C Wales, Tómas Patrik Sigurðarson and Hörður Sævar Bjarnarson.