ABSTRACT
The chapter builds on data from three months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Westfjords in Northwest Iceland. The Westfjords is one of the most sparsely inhabited regions of Iceland and is often described as one of the most remote parts of the country. While it has suffered significant population loss in the last decades, the share of immigrants in the total population of the region increased over the period. In 2021, 18% of Westfjords inhabitants were of foreign origin, compared to 15% in the country generally. The chapter discusses migration to the Westfjords to reflect on shifting meanings and ways of practicing remoteness. It argues that recent migration to the Westfjords in many ways unsettles the dominant ideas of the region as remote, not only as isolated and out of reach, but also as homogeneous, traditional, and eventless. The decision to move to the Westfjords has often been motivated by specific qualities ascribed to the area—small, intimate communities, proximity to nature, and slow life away from the modern rush. Those are attributes typically associated with peripheral and distant communities, yet they acquire a new meaning in light of the current ecological emergency.
