The Jökulfirðir form a system of five fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

s in 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...

, 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...

, situated north of Ísafjarðardjúp

Ísafjarðardjúp

Ísafjarðardjúp is a large fjord in the Westfjords region of Iceland. Its name translates as Ice fjord deep.Ísafjörður, capital of the Westfjords region, is situated close to the mouth of Ísafjarðardjúp....

 and south of the Hornstrandir

Hornstrandir

Hornstrandir is Iceland's northernmost peninsula, situated in the Westfjords, to the north of the Jökulfirðir and to the northwest of Drangajökull....

 peninsula. They are named for Drangajökull

Drangajökull

Drangajökull is the northernmost glacier of Iceland. It is situated south-west of the peninsula Hornstrandir in the Vestfirðir region. The glacier covers an area of at an altitude of . It is the only Icelandic glacier entirely under 1 km height and also the only one that has not shrunk in recent...

, a glacier situated to the southeast of the fjords.

The area surrounding the fjords used to be permanently inhabited until the 1960s, but is now occupied only seasonally, as a summer resort. The fjords cannot be reached by road, but are accessible by boat from Bolungarvík

Bolungarvík

Bolungarvík is a fishing village and municipality in the North-West of Iceland, located at the Vestfirðir peninsula, approximately 14 kilometres from the town of Ísafjörður and 473 km from the capital city Reykjavík....

.

The individual five fjords are:

• Hesteyrarfjörður
• Veiðileysufjörður
• Lónafjörður
• Hrafnsfjörður
• Leirufjörður