Iceland Information, Geography and History

INFORMATION

• Full name: Republic of Iceland
• Capital City: Reykjavik
• Language: Icelandic (official), English
• Currency: Icelandic króna (ISK)
• Religion: Evangelical Lutheran, Protestant designation, Roman Catholic & Ásatrú followers, Norse religion.
• National Anthem: Lofsöngur (Song of Praise)
• Newspaper: Bæjarins Besta, Iceland News (EN), Hornafjordur, InsideEurope Iceland
• Places to Visit: Grímsey, Mývatn, Reykjavik, Geysir, Gullfoss, Hallgrímskirkja, Helgafell, Skaftafell National Park
• Transport: Avail the direct flight of Icelandair, that travel between Europe and USA. One may even opt the Iceland Express, incase one is looking for a low budgeted tour that travels daily from Reykjavik to London and to Copenhagen. One may even undertake a ferry ride, though it is time taking but costs similar to the air fare. The month of May to early September, is usually the time to undertake ferry ride from Hanstholm in northern Denmark.
• Shopping: Earthern-colored Lopi wool blankets, coats, jackets, earthenware containers, hand knitted hats, pottery, ceramic pieces and many others.

INTRODUCTION

Get a striking note of prominent landscapes, molten lava fields, boisterous waterfalls, grandiose ice caps, sandy wilderness and stony deserts as you take a magnificent trip to the land of Iceland. It is one of the happening destinations with expansive land area filled with glaciers, hot springs and geysers. Indulge in snow mobiling to ice fishing in this land, which has a strong folklore platform.

LOCATION OF ICELAND

Iceland is an island nation nestled in the northern region of Atlantic Ocean lying in the midst of Greenland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Island. The province is placed towards the southern region of the Arctic Circle, thereby passing through the island of Grímsey overlooking the northern coast of the province.

PHYSICAL MAP OF ICELAND

Iceland is known as the second largest island within the European continent that is placed near the Arctic Circle. The province shares common cultural, economic and linguistic features and is known to be a part of the Scandinavian territory. It is recognized as the largest island in the world that stands in the 18th position while being the largest island in Europe which positions itself in the 2nd place, right after the Great Britain.

Almost 10 percent of the total land area is covered with glaciers of different types starting from the small cirque to the widespread glacier caps. Vatnajökull is the largest glacial cap of the region, which is placed in the southeastern region of Iceland that covers an area of about with an area of 8,300 squares. Other major glaciers of the region are Langjökul, Hofsjökull, Mýrdalsjökull, Drangajökull and many others.

The islands lying in the coast region are fairly inhabited. The largest island of the region is Westman Islands towards the south, Hrísey towards the north, and Grímsey along the Arctic Circle.

Iceland is constituted with high raised mountains and elevated plateaus, where Hvannadalshnúkur is placed in the Öræfajökull glacier within the Southeastern region of Iceland that is considered as the highest point that ascends to a elevation of 2.119 m in height.

Iceland is active with several volcanoes with the presence of 200 postglacial volcanoes, out of which 30 have erupted till now. Among the volcanoes, the fissure eruptions are the common sort.

Hot Springs and Geo-thermal activity seem to predominate the region that typifies the Steam holes, mud pools, and sulphuric rainfall within the region.

The river that passes through this region can be divided into two sectors: glacial and clear-water rivers. The glacial rivers are separated in its diverse tributaries and frequently change their path while crossing the plains underlying the glaciers.

Clear waters can be further segregated into two parts. One being that has the utmost flow during the spring time and flows along the old basalt area and the other flowing through the post-glacial lava regions.

CLIMATE OF ICELAND

The climatic condition of Ireland is temperate in nature where winters are considerably gentle and breezy and summers being soggy and cool. The weather in Iceland is subjected to alteration and is based on the atmospheric depression that passes through the North Atlantic region. The south of Iceland region is affected and turns cold and dry while the northeastern side is placed between the Iceland and the Greenland which is subjected to mild, and dry conditions.

The coastal areas are usually windy and are accompanied occasionally with gales and thunderstorms. The warm waters coming out of the Gulf of Stream makes the southern and western coasts of Iceland cooler. The months of July and August are known as the warmest months and, the weather improves as one shifts from the northern region to the eastern. The Akureyri and Lake Mývatn located in the central north are subjected to extreme summer weather conditions while Egilsstaðir in the east are warmer while approaching but the chilly wind is something one can never avoid, however hot the region may be. The highest air temperature that ascended to about 30.5°C along the area of Teigarhorn on the southeastern coast whereas the lowest recorded temperature of the region went up to -38°C at the area of Grímsstaðir and Möðrudalur along the interior northeast sectors. Summer is accompanied with bright daylight in Iceland, while early spring season and late autumn witnesses long duration of nightfall. This period relates till the mid of November to the end of January.

FLORA AND FAUNA OF ICELAND

Dense trees and shrubs cover the areas of oceanic shoreline till the mountain slopes mainly concentrating along the regions of Hallormsstaður near the eastern coast and towards the Vaglaskógur region in the northern province. Being a region subjected to cold-tempered oceanic weather condition, the plants are mainly of the arctic-alpine species. The province has 470 species of indigenous plants of different origin like Cryptograms, Gymnosperm, Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons.

Watch out for native species like shrubs, heather, crowberry, lichens, bearberry, willow, mosses on the lava fields and dwarf birch. All these species seems to have originated from the North European or Scandinavian class.

The Arctic fox was the sole land mammal to have flourished within the region in ancient days. Foxes are still prevalent and are referred to as the ravage sheep. The brown rat, the black rat, the house mouse, and the field mouse were slowly imported later on. It is the reindeer that were introduced within the province seems to have derived from Norway in the late eighteenth century.

The native animals of the region include species like cattle, sheep, horses, geese, ducks, turkeys, pigeons and angora rabbits. The Iceland horses are known as ponies in the region, which is a unique animal, originated from Norway.

Watch out for aquatic lives like the Grey seals, seventeen species of whales like porpoises, fin whales, killer whales, sei whales, mink whales and sperm whales. Even the big blue whales and humpback whales can be sighted here.

There are about 241 kinds of birds with aboriginal species like the waterfowl, waders, barrow's golden eye, harlequin duck along with sea birds like Brunnich's guillemot, the razorbill, the puffin, the kittiwake, the fulmar, and the gannet. Icelandic falcon is among the most cherished species within the region. Do catch up with birds like the white-tailed eagle, snowy owl and many other rare species of the region.

The province is known to have four chief national parks namely Jokulsargljufur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, Snæfellsjökull National Park, and Þingvellir National Park.

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