Akureyri is a town in northern Iceland - the fourth largest settlement in the country and the largest outside the heavily populated area around the capital Reykjavik. It had a population of just under 19,000 in 2019. The first permanent settlement on the site was in 1778 and the town was granted municipal status in 1786 (although it lost it again in 1836 only to regain it in 1862).
The town is on the western shore of the fjord Eyjafjörður, close to the head of the fjord. It is just over sixty miles from the Arctic Circle and therefore enjoys 'white nights' in the summer when it doesn't get dark in the brief period between sunset and sunrise. On the other hand in the middle of winter the sun doesn't rise until half past eleven in the morning and has set again before three in the afternoon. Vertical Divider
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Portobello is a suburb of the city of Edinburgh. It was once an independent burgh but was incorporated into its larger neighbour in 1896. As such it is open to discussion exactly how far 'Portobello' extends as it merges with neighbouring districts and there are different boundaries drawn for different purposes. At the City of Edinburgh Council Portobello is part of the Portobello and Craigmillar ward, which had a population of just under 32,000 in 2019. However a tighter definition of Portobello that most people would recognise is probably centred on the Portobello and Joppa districts, between the Sir Harry Lauder Road, the Brunstane Burn and the Sea, with 9,645 inhabitants in 2019.
The area that was to become Portobello was known as the Figgate Muir until the eighteenth century. A cottage built by a crossroads in the area in 1742 was named after the 1739 Battle of Porto Bello in Panama and as other houses started to appear, the name stuck. Industry grew up around the local clay deposits and a separate sea bathing resort developed. The town received burgh status in 1833. |