Húsavík

Húsavík, town, northern Iceland. It lies along Skjálfandi Bay, northeast of Akureyri, and is the oldest settlement in Iceland. According to legend, Húsavík (“Bay of the Houses”) was so named because a Swedish seafarer, Gardar, blown off course, built a house and wintered there in 864. In the 1880s one of Iceland’s first cooperatives was organized there. Húsavík is a fishing port and serves as a market centre for a dairy-farming and sheep-raising area. Pop. (2006 est.) 2,296.