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Hvalfjordur is a fjord in Southwest Iceland. The fjord is approximately 30 km long and 5 km wide.

Nature & Landscape

The landscape of Hvalfjordur is varied and beautiful, wide areas of flat land along with majestic mountains, green vegetation in summer and beaches cut with by creeks and rich in birdlife. The area has further been well planted with forests. Among natural attractions is Iceland's highest waterfall, Glymur in Botnsdalur, in the river Botnsa. There are plenty of interesting hiking trails in the area, such as Sildarmannagotur, leading north, and Leggjabrjotur, leading east towards the area of Thingvellir National Park. 

Culture

Culturewise Hvalfjordur had one of the main whaling stations in Iceland and one of the most important naval stations in the North Atlantic during World War Two. The old whaling station and a war museum are found in the fjord. Iceland's main psalm poet, Hallgrimur Petursson, writer of the Passiusalmar ('Passia Hymns') lived in Saurbaer in Hvalfjordur. Hvalfjordur was also the home of the late Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson, rhymes poet and performer and head of the Icelandic pagan association. 

Economy

Most inhabitants of the fjord live in rural areas, and there is some farming in the area. Until the 1990s those travelling between Borgarnes and Reykjavik had to take a long detour through the fjord, but this was solved with a tunnel under the fjord in, 1998, the Hvalfjardargong. Grundartangi spit in Hvalfjordur has one of the largest harbours in the country and two industrial plants. One is a ferrosilicon plant, operated since 1979, the other an aluminium smelter, operated since 1998.