Egilsstaðir
|
Egilsstaðir in eastern Iceland |
Egilsstaðir is a
town in East
Iceland on the banks of
Lagarfljót river. In
2004, the town had over 2,100 inhabitants.
The town is young, even by Icelandic standards where urbanization is a fairly recent trend compared to mainland
Europe. It was established in
1947 as an effort by the surrounding
rural districts who felt the need for a service center in the region. They intentionally chose a spot in the land of the Egilsstaðir farm (which the town was named after) near the bridge over Lagarfljót because that is a spot where all the main roads of the region meet,
Route 1 as well as the main routes to the
Eastfjords.
Today, Egilsstaðir has grown to become the largest town of East Iceland and its main service, transportation and administration center. The town has an
airport,
college and a
hospital. More growth is predicted for the town in coming years following the expected economic boom in the region because of the
Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project and
Alcoa's aluminum smelting plant in
Reyðarfjörður.
*
Sigmar Vilhjálmsson - Iceland TV host
*
Hjálmar Jónsson - Footballer
*
Magni Ásgeirsson - Singer in the band
A Móti Sól and contestant on the American
Reality TV programme
Rock Star: Supernova
