- Borgarnes
Borgarnes is a small town located on a
peninsula at theshore ofBorgarfjörður inIceland . It has apopulation of 2,000 (As of 2007).The town is located 60 km north of thecapital Reykjavík and is connected to other places in Iceland through the second largestbridge in Iceland, Borgarfjarðarbrú. Borgarnes is the biggest town in theBorgarbyggð municipality.History of Borgarnes
Borgarnes is first noted in
Egils Saga but in thesaga it is called Digranes. The first "Settler" to live there was called Grani, a shipmate ofSkallagrímur , the first landlord and settler of theBorgarfjörður -area. There is no known history of settlement in Borgarnes after Grani's days until the 19th century.Just after Iceland gained freedom from the
Danish trading monopoly , there was a great demand for a trading place in the area and the Danish King authorized Borgarnes as a trading place in 1861.The first
building built in Borgarnes was acanning factory . It was built in 1857 but was torn down a few years later. A trading house was built in Borgarnes in 1877, and a few years later settlement in Borgarnes began in earnest.In 1913, Borgarnes officially became a
town calledBorgarneshreppur but had its name changed toBorgarnesbær in 1987. Later on, in 1994, Borgarnesbær united withHraunhreppur ,Norðurárdalshreppur , andStafholtstungnahreppur under the nameBorgarbyggð , using the Borgarnes seal andoffices . In 1998,Álftaneshreppur ,Borgarhreppur andÞverárhlíðarhreppur also became a part of Borgarbyggð.Economy
Kaupfélag Borgfirðinga (KB)KB was founded in 1904 as a
mutual company . It was the biggest supplier of work in Borgarnes in the 20th century.Like among most local mutual companies (and members of SÍS, theFederation of Iceland Cooperatives Societies ) in Iceland, Kaupfélag Borgfirðinga had shops,supermarkets , petrol stations, aslaughterhouse , amilk processing factory, abakery , etc. under its name. KB also had shares in many other factories and companies in the Borgarnes area and elsewhere in Iceland.At the end of the 20th century, KB's financial powers and status began to decline and it was changed to aholding company called KB Borgarnesi EHF.The KB logo and trademark will no longer be used for what is left of KB's operations in the beginning of 2005."See also:"
Kaupfélag Borgfirðinga .Major industries in Borgarnes
Borgarnes is the center of commerce for a large part of western Iceland. The town's economy is mostly based on service to people traveling from
Reykjavík ,farmers and owners of summer houses in thecountryside around the town, and also various industries.Shops and trading
* Samkaup,
Supermarket .
* Húsasmiðjan,Hardware store .
* Framköllunarþjónustan,Photographic processing .
*Hyrnan , Supermarket, shop,restaurant and abus stop , owned by KB.
*Bónus , Adiscount supermarket, owned byBaugur Group .
*Vínbúð , Wine shop, owned by the Icelandic state.
*Tvest , Electronics store selling, amongst other things, computers and TVs.Banking
* Sparisjóður Mýrasýslu. The local
savings bank .Manufacturing
*
BM Vallá . Steel industry: nails, steel plates, truck modifications, etc.
*Loftorka .Concrete ; premade house walls, pipes etc.
*Borgarnes Kjötvörur (former Kjötiðnaðarstöð KB). Various kinds ofmeats .
*Eðalfiskur .Salmon processing.Transportation
The second-largest bridge in Iceland,
Borgarfjarðarbrú connects Borgarnes to Route 1 (the Ring Road) and connects it with other parts of the country. The BorgarnesHarbour has not been used for transportation for years so all transportation to and from Borgarnes is by land.Sports Clubs and Youth Associations
* Skallagrímur. The biggest sports club in Borgarnes.
Badminton , athletics,basketball ,football (soccer) ,swimming and other activities likeacting .
* Kveldúlfur. The sports club of the handicapped in Borgarnes.
* Golfklúbbur Borgarness. The Borgarnes Golf Club.
* Mýgrútur FC. Football club."See also:"
Borgarbyggð ,List of cities in Iceland ,History of Iceland
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