II.

Land and Resources

Iceland lies about 1,000 km (620 mi) west of Norway and 300 km (185 mi) southeast of Greenland. It is encircled by the Denmark Strait, the Norwegian Sea, and the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. To the southwest of Iceland lie the small Vestmannaeyjar Islands.

Iceland’s coast is indented by many bays and fjords, except in the south, where the shore is mostly sandy. Three large peninsulas jut out from Iceland’s west coast. The most prominent is Vestfjarda Peninsula. Iceland’s coastline has a total length of 4,988 km (3,099 mi).

Iceland is located on a volcanically active region of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Volcanic eruptions have created vast uninhabitable lava tablelands with mountainous outcroppings. Elevations in the uplands, which cover about half the country, average from about 610 to 915 m (about 2,000 to 3,000 ft). Hvannadalshnúkur (2,119 m/6,952 ft), in the southeast, is the highest summit.

Snowfields and glaciers cover nearly 15 percent of Iceland’s surface. Vatnajökull, a glacier in the southeast, has an area of 8,456 sq km (3,265 sq mi). Iceland has numerous small lakes and many swift-flowing rivers broken by dramatic waterfalls. None of the rivers is navigable, but many hold significant waterpower potential.

Lowlands in Iceland are situated mainly along the southwestern coast. Lowlands occupy about 25 percent of the island’s total area. The bulk of the Icelandic population lives along the coast, particularly in the southwest.

Iceland is remarkable for its numerous volcanoes, craters, and hot springs, and for the frequency of its earthquakes. More than 100 volcanoes, including at least 25 that have erupted in recorded history, rise on the island. In 1963 a volcanic eruption off Iceland’s southern coast created the small island of Surtsey. Among Iceland’s best-known volcanoes are Hekla (1,491 m/4,892 ft), which has erupted many times, and nearby Laki, with about 100 separate craters. Many eruptions have caused widespread devastation, including the 1783 eruption of Laki in which more than 9,000 Icelanders died. Where ice fields overlay volcanoes, the latter sometimes erupt through the ice, causing spectacular ice explosions.

Hot springs rise to the surface across Iceland. Particularly numerous in the volcanic areas, the springs occur as geysers (a word of Icelandic origin), as boiling mud lakes, and in various other forms. The famous Geysir in south central Iceland—the oldest geyser in recorded history and generally regarded as one of the most spectacular—erupts at irregular intervals (usually from 5 to 36 hours), ejecting a column of boiling water up to about 60 m (about 200 ft) in height. Most homes and industrial establishments in the Reykjavík area are heated by water piped from nearby hot springs.

A.

Climate

Although Iceland touches the Arctic Circle, the island’s climate is relatively mild. This is because an ocean current called the North Atlantic Drift carries relatively warm waters along Iceland’s shores. As a result, climatic conditions are moderate across most of the island. The mean annual temperature at Reykjavík is about 5° C (about 41° F), with a range from -1° C (31° F) in January to 11° C (52° F) in July.

The northwestern, northern, and eastern coastal regions are subject to the effects of polar currents and drifting ice, and temperatures are generally lower. Violent windstorms are common during much of the winter season. Annual precipitation ranges between about 1,270 and 2,030 mm (about 50 and 80 in) along the southern coast, but only about 510 mm (about 20 in) along the northern coast. The southern slopes of some of Iceland’s interior mountains receive up to about 4,570 mm (about 180 in) of moisture per year.

B.

Plants and Animals

Iceland does not sustain a great variety of indigenous plants. Grasslands and heather (see Heath) are abundant along the southern coast and provide pasturage for sheep and other livestock. Extensive forests probably existed on the island in prehistoric times, but present-day trees, such as birch and spruce, are relatively scarce. Bilberries and crowberries are the only kinds of fruit native to the island.

The arctic fox was the only land mammal living in Iceland at the time of the first human settlement. Ancient Viking settlers brought a breed of pony to Iceland that today is called the Icelandic pony, a surefooted, muscular animal that for centuries has been used as a beast of burden. Reindeer were introduced about 1770; mice and other rodents were brought in on ships. Neither reptiles nor frogs and toads are found. About 100 species of birds inhabit the island. Many of these species are aquatic, among them the whistling swan and several varieties of duck. The eider duck is valued for its down. Gulls are common along the seashore. Whales and seals live along the coast, as do cod, haddock, halibut, and herring. Salmon and trout thrive in Iceland’s freshwater rivers and lakes.