Raufarhöfn
 |
Raufarhöfn | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Raufarhöfn street view | |
 Location of the Municipality of Norðurþing | |
  Raufarhöfn Location of Raufarhöfn in Iceland | |
| Coordinates: 66°27′15″N 15°57′00″W / 66.45417°N 15.95000°WCoordinates: 66°27′15″N 15°57′00″W / 66.45417°N 15.95000°W | |
| Country |  Iceland |
| Constituency | Northeast Constituency |
| Region | Northeastern Region |
| Municipality | Norðurþing |
| Population (2019) | |
| • Total | 188 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
Raufarhöfn (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈrœiːvarˌhœpn̥]) is a village located on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkaslétta [ˈmɛlˌrahkaˌstljɛhta] peninsula in Iceland.
History
At one point in time, this small village was home to largest export harbor in Iceland. In the forties and fifties, the Herring frenzy dominated the Icelandic economy and Raufarhöfn was an important place in that economic chain. But after the herring disappeared the effect was devastating for the village. This is the reason for the old and interesting factory buildings.[1] The village is the site of a modern monument called the "Arctic Henge" which is aligned to the heavens and is inspired by the mythical world of the Eddic poem Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress).[2] As of 2019, it has 188[3] inhabitants. It was a major fish processing station during the large herring catches in the mid 20th century.[1]
Sights
The church was built in 1928 by Guðjón Samúelsson, one of the most important Icelandic architects, and inaugurated on 1 January 1929.[4] It was renovated in 1979.[5] Circa 1996, a large stone monument, "Arctic Henge" (Heimskautsgerði [ˈheimˌskœitsˌcɛrðɪ] in Icelandic), was constructed close to the village.[6] Inspired by historic stone circles as of 2021 the site is still under construction.[7]
Climate
The climate is tundra (Koppen: ET). As the northernmost community of mainland Iceland, Raufarhöfn is also the coldest with an annual average of 2.0 °C.[8]
| Climate data for Raufarhöfn (1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) |
11.0 (51.8) |
12.7 (54.9) |
17.0 (62.6) |
20.8 (69.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
24.7 (76.5) |
21.7 (71.1) |
17.2 (63.0) |
14.8 (58.6) |
10.6 (51.1) |
24.7 (76.5) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 0.4 (32.7) |
0.8 (33.4) |
0.6 (33.1) |
2.8 (37.0) |
5.8 (42.4) |
9.3 (48.7) |
10.9 (51.6) |
10.8 (51.4) |
8.0 (46.4) |
5.1 (41.2) |
1.9 (35.4) |
0.8 (33.4) |
4.8 (40.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −2.2 (28.0) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
2.9 (37.2) |
6.4 (43.5) |
8.0 (46.4) |
8.0 (46.4) |
5.3 (41.5) |
2.6 (36.7) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
2.0 (35.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −5.0 (23.0) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
0.5 (32.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
5.7 (42.3) |
5.7 (42.3) |
2.8 (37.0) |
0.2 (32.4) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −21.5 (−6.7) |
−21.2 (−6.2) |
−24.6 (−12.3) |
−21.8 (−7.2) |
−16.0 (3.2) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−11.2 (11.8) |
−17.9 (−0.2) |
−17.9 (−0.2) |
−24.6 (−12.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 76 (3.0) |
57 (2.2) |
66 (2.6) |
47 (1.9) |
28 (1.1) |
39 (1.5) |
48 (1.9) |
58 (2.3) |
73 (2.9) |
86 (3.4) |
80 (3.1) |
76.5 (3.01) |
733 (28.9) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 5.2 | 25.7 | 47.5 | 75.7 | 108.2 | 113.5 | 96.2 | 90.2 | 57.7 | 31.6 | 9.5 | 0.1 | 661.1 |
| Source: Vedur.is[8] | |||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ a b "Hit Iceland information page about Iceland"
- ^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (30 April 2012). "Aurora Over Raufarhöfn". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ The population of zipcode 675 sourced from https://www.statice.is/statistics/population/inhabitants/municipalities-and-urban-nuclei/ in March 2019.
- ^ http://kirkjukort.net/kirkjur/raufarhafnarkirkja_0385.html
- ^ "Raufarhöfn the tiny northern most village in Iceland".
- ^ "Arctic Henge".
- ^ "The Arctic Henge". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Climate data for Raufarhöfn". vedur.is.
External links
- Articles needing cleanup from September 2022
- Articles with bare URLs for citations from September 2022
- All articles with bare URLs for citations
- Use dmy dates from May 2019
- Articles with short description
- Short description with empty Wikidata description
- Coordinates not on Wikidata
- AC with 0 elements
- Populated places in Northeastern Region (Iceland)