Borgarnes
The town Borgarnes is the capital of the county Borgarbyggð.
The county is the centre for service and administration in the Mýra- and Borgarfjarðarsýslu district, and also a centre for industry, especially the building industry.
Borgarnes town was built around the original settlement of Borgar á Mýrum, also known as Digranes in the ancient sagas, specifically Egilssaga. Here according to the legend, the luggage of Kveld-Úlfur, father of Skalla-Gríms, ran ashore, causing him to found the town. Within the town there are places whose names are related to Egilssaga, such as Kveldúlfshöfði, Kveldúlfsvík, Skallagrímsdalur, Brákarsund and others.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, merchant sailing to Borgarnes began and it became a legally recognised trading place in 1867. A trading home from 1877 still stands a short way up from Brákarsundi in the town. Later, Brákarey became a fully fledged port, and Borgarnes grew into an important centre for commerce between different regions of Iceland. With the building of the Borgarfjarðar bridge, Borgarnes recently re-entered the busy national business arena, and trade in the town, such as tourist services, has grown substantially as a result. Borgarnes recieved full municipal rights in 1987.