Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

( ) is an

island country An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

at the confluence of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

and

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

oceans, east of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

and immediately south of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

, atop the constructive boundary of the northern

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North A ...

about from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and from New York City. One of the world's most sparsely populated countries, Iceland's boundaries are almost the same as the main island – the world's 18th largest in area and possessing almost all of the country's area and population and also it is world's 9th largest

. It is the westernmost European country and has more land covered by

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s than in all of

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. The total size is . It has an exclusive economic zone of .

Statistics

Iceland is an island country in Northern Europe, straddling the Eurasian and North American plates between the

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined a ...

and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

. Extent (locations outside mainland in parentheses) :North:

Rifstangi The Rifstangi () is a small peninsula in northeast Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's cap ...

, 66°32′3" N ( Kolbeinsey, 67°08,9 N) :South: Kötlutangi, 63°23′6" N (

Surtsey Surtsey (" Surtr's island" in Icelandic, ) is a volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At Surtsey is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began ...

, 63°17,7 N) :West:

Bjargtangar Bjargtangar (, regionally also ) is the westernmost point of Iceland and is considered the westernmost point of Europe outside the mid-Atlantic archipelago of Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( ...

, 24°32′1" W :East:

Gerpir Iceland ( ) is an island country at the confluence of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the constructive boundary of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge about from Scotland and ...

, 13°29′6" W (

Hvalbakur Hvalbakur (, meaning 'whale back') is a small island off the coast of Iceland, and the country's easternmost point. It is located in the Austurland region, from the mainland. It is long and up to wide, with its highest point above sea level. T ...

, 13°16,6 W) Area: :''Total'': :''Land'': 100,329 km² :''Water'': 2,796 km² ; Coastline: Iceland has a coastline of 4,970 km. Maritime claims: :''Territorial sea'': :'' Exclusive economic zone'': with :''Continental shelf'': or to the edge of the

continental margin A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margin ...

Elevation extremes: :''Lowest point'': Atlantic Ocean 0 m :''Highest point'': Hvannadalshnúkur 2,110 m Natural resources: :

Marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. ...

, diatomite,

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...

Land use

:''Arable land:'' 1.21% :''Permanent crops'': 0% :''Other'': 98.79% (2012) ; Total renewable water resources : 170 km³ (2011) ; Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) :''Total'': 0.17 km³/yr (49%/8%/42%) :''Per capita'': 539.2 m³/yr (2005) ; Natural hazards :Volcanism, earthquakes,

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ea ...

s, and glacial lake outburst flooding (or ''jökulhlaups'') ; Environment—current issues :Water pollution from fertilizer runoff; inadequate wastewater treatment

Physical geography

Iceland consists of eight geographical regions, Capital Region, Southern Peninsula, West, Westfjords, Northwest, Northeast, East and South. Twenty percent of the land is used for

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and ot ...

, while only one percent is cultivated. Iceland has lost most of the woodland that previously covered large areas of the country, but an ambitious

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands ( forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A de ...

program is currently underway. Fossilized tree pollen and descriptions by the early settlers indicate that prior to human settlement, now thought to have occurred from around AD 800 onwards, trees covered between thirty and forty per cent of the island. Today, however, there are only small patches of the original

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

forests left, the most prominent being

Hallormsstaðaskógur Hallormsstaður National Forest () or Hallormsstaðaskógur is located in Fljótsdalur east Iceland, about 25 kilometers inland from the town of Egilsstaðir. It is one of the larger forests in Iceland, covering 740 hectares (ha), and ...

and Vaglaskógur. The country of Iceland contains 36 islands. The longest river on the island is Þjórsá at . Iceland has three national parks: Vatnajökull National Park, Snæfellsjökull National Park, and

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland ...

National Park. The inhabited areas are on the coast, particularly in the southwest, while the central highlands are all but uninhabited. The island's terrain is mostly plateau interspersed with mountain peaks, icefields and a coast deeply indented by bays and fjords.

Highlands

The Highlands make up about half of Iceland's land area, which is of recent volcanic origin and consists of a mountainous

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

desert (highest elevation above sea level) and other wastelands. The area is mostly uninhabited and uninhabitable.

Westfjords

The

Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords ( is, Vestfirðir , ISO 3166-2:IS: IS-4) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district, the least populous administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coa ...

region is composed of a large, mountainous peninsula on Iceland's northwestern coast. The coastline is marked by numerous fjords as its name suggests. The peninsula contains Iceland's northernmost glacier, Drangajökull.

Southern Peninsula

The Southern Peninsula, also known as the

Reykjanes Reykjanes () is a small headland on the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. The region is about from Iceland's international airport. As the name means "smoking peninsula" connected to vol ...

Peninsula, is located in the southwestern corner of Iceland. The area contains little vegetation because of active

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

and large lava fields. There are

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

and

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

springs in the southern portion of the peninsula, in the

Kleifarvatn Kleifarvatn () is the largest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, situated in the southern part of the peninsula. It is located on the fissure zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The lake has no visible water coming in or going out as most ...

lake and the

Krýsuvík ''For the volcanic landforms around Krýsuvík, see also: Krýsuvík (volcanic system)'' Krýsuvík (also Krísuvík, both pronounced in Icelandic) is an area in Southwest Iceland at about 35 km from Reykjavík. Geography and access It i ...

geothermal area.

Capital Region

Home to Iceland's capital,

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, the Capital Region is the most densely populated area in Iceland. It is located on the southwest coast of the island near the Southern Peninsula. The majority of Reykjavik is located on the

Seltjarnarnes Seltjarnarnes () is a town in the Capital Region of Iceland. Seltjarnarnes is beside Reykjavik. It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic ...

peninsula. Mount

Esja Esja, in Icelandic called Esjan, which means "the Esja" (), is a mountain situated in the south-west of Iceland, about ten kilometres north of Iceland's capital city Reykjavík. Esja is not a single mountain, but a volcanic mountain range, ...

, at 914 metres (2,999 ft), is the highest mountain in the vicinity of Reykjavík. Several natural harbours exist and provide good fishing grounds.

West

Located in the western portion of the island and north of the Capital Region. In Hvalfjörður fjord rests the second-tallest waterfall in Iceland,

Glymur Glymur () is the second-highest waterfall in Iceland, with a cascade of 198 m. It was long regarded as the tallest until being surpassed by Morsárfoss, a newly measured waterfall near Morsárjökull in 2011. It is situated at the rear end of ...

. West is also home to Borgarfjörður, a fjord with volcanic activity such as Deildartunguhver- a powerful hotspring. The Hafnarfjall Mountain rises over the landscape.

South

The southern portion of Iceland contains some of its most notable volcanoes such as Hekla, Eldgjá, and Katla. Alongside the volcanoes exist numerous glaciers such as Vatnajökull, Mýrdalsjökull, and Eyjafjallajökull. Basalt columns and

black sand Black sand is sand that is black in color. One type of black sand is a heavy, glossy, partly magnetic mixture of usually fine sands containing minerals such as magnetite, found as part of a placer deposit. Another type of black sand, found on ...

beaches are examples of the volcanic activity of the area. The area also contains mountain ranges and Iceland's highest peak,

Hvannadalshnjúkur Hvannadalshnjúkur (pronounced ) or Hvannadalshnúkur is a pyramidal peak on the northwestern rim of the summit crater of the Öræfajökull volcano in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. Its summit is the highest point in the country. Ge ...

, as well as the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) archipelago.

East

East Iceland contains the majority of the island's vegetation and birch forests.

Glaciers

Around 10.2 per cent of the total land area is covered by

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

, although these are retreating at an accelerating rate. The four largest Icelandic glaciers are: *

Hofsjökull __NOTOC__ Hofsjökull ( Icelandic: " temple glacier", ) is the third largest ice cap in Iceland after Vatnajökull and Langjökull and the largest active volcano in the country. It is situated in the west of the Highlands of Iceland and north o ...

(827 km²) * Langjökull (868 km²) *

Mýrdalsjökull Mýrdalsjökull (pronounced , Icelandic for "(the) mire dale glacier" or "(the) mire valley glacier") is an ice cap in the south of Iceland. It is to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller ice cap Eyjafjallajökull. Between ...

(542 km²) * Vatnajökull (7,764 km²) Other notable glaciers include: Snæfellsjökull in the Morning (7622876302)

Drangajökull Drangajökull (, regionally also ) is the northernmost glacier of Iceland. It is situated southwest of the peninsula Hornstrandir in the Westfjords region. The glacier covers an area of , at an altitude of up to . It is the only Icelandic glacier ...

(145 km²) *

Eiríksjökull Eiríksjökull ( Icelandic for "Eirík's glacier", ) is a glacier north-west of Langjökull in Iceland, with an area of reaching a height of , making it the largest table mountain in Iceland. Rising over above its surrounding, the lowest of a hy ...

(21 km²) * Eyjafjallajökull (70 km²) * Snæfellsjökull (10 km²). *

Tindfjallajökull Tindfjallajökull () is a stratovolcano in the south of Iceland. It has erupted rocks of basaltic to rhyolitic composition, and a 5-km-wide caldera was formed during the eruption of the 54,000-year-old Thórsmörk Ignimbrite. It is capped by a glac ...

(11 km²) *

Torfajökull Torfajökull ( Icelandic for "Torfi's glacier"; ) is a rhyolitic stratovolcano, caldera (central volcano) and complex of subglacial volcanoes, located north of Mýrdalsjökull and south of Þórisvatn Lake, Iceland. Torfajökull last erupted in ...

(10 km²) *

Tungnafellsjökull Tungnafellsjökull (, "''Tungna-fells glacier''" or "tongue-fells glacier") is a glacier and volcano in Iceland. It has an elevation of and is located northwest of Vatnajökull Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of L ...

(33 km²) *

Þórisjökull Þórisjökull or Thórisjökull (, Icelandic for "Thóris's glacier") is a small glacier and volcano in western-central Iceland, to the southwest of Langjökull glacier. It has an elevation of . Kaldidalur lies in the foreground. Position þ ...

(25 km²) *

Þrándarjökull Þrándarjökull () is a small glacier in eastern Iceland. It has an elevation of and is located from Vatnajökull Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the ...

(16 km²)

Climate

Because of the moderating influence of the

North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. The NAC originates from where ...

, the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

is temperate and characterized by damp, cool summers and relatively mild but windy winters. Reykjavík has an average temperature of in July and in January It has a Köppen Climate Classification of Subpolar oceanic climate (''Cfc'') with most of the island classified as Tundra (''ET'').

Geology

Iceland has extensive

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

and geothermal activity. The

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...

associated with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which marks the division between the

Eurasian Plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent an ...

and

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the ...

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...

, runs across Iceland from the southwest to the northeast. This geographic feature is prominent at the

National Park, where the

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the ...

creates an extraordinary natural

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. The site was the home of Iceland's parliament, the Alþing, which was first convened in 930. It is a common misconception that Þingvellir is at the juncture between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. However, they are in fact at the juncture of the North American continental plate and a smaller plate (approx. 10,000 km2) called the Hreppar Microplate (Hreppaflekinn). From 1963 to 1967, the island of

was created on the southwest coast by a volcanic eruption.

Geological activity

A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the

Iceland hotspot The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity which has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland. Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, with eruptions occu ...

and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it. This location means that the island is highly geologically active with earthquakes and volcanoes, notably Hekla, Eldgjá, Herðubreið and Eldfell. Eyjafjallajökull (1,666 m) erupted in 2010, disrupting European air traffic. To demonstrate the geothermal activity, the

Icelandic Meteorological Office Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO; is, Veðurstofa Íslands) is Iceland's national weather service and as such a government agency under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. It is also active in volcano monitoring, esp. volc ...

said that during a single week in February 2021, around 17,000 earthquakes have hit the southwestern region of

. Iceland has many

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only i ...

s, including

Geysir Geysir (), sometimes known as The Great Geysir, is a geyser in southwestern Iceland. It was the first geyser described in a printed source and the first known to modern Europeans. The English word ''geyser'' (a periodically spouting hot spring) ...

, from which the English word ''geyser'' is derived. With the widespread availability of

, and the harnessing of many rivers and waterfalls for

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

, most residents have access to inexpensive hot water, heating, and electricity. The island is composed primarily of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

, a low-

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...

associated with effusive volcanism as has occurred also in Hawaii. Iceland, however, has a variety of volcanic types (composite and fissure), many producing more evolved lavas such as

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The miner ...

and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

. Iceland has hundreds of volcanoes, with approximately 30 active volcanic systems.

Environment—international agreements

Party to: :

Air Pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

Desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused ...

Endangered Species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,

Marine Dumping The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dum ...

, Nuclear Test Ban,

Ozone Layer Protection The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force on ...

, Ship Pollution (

MARPOL 73/78 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. MARPOL 73/78, MARPOL is an amalg ...

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

Whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

Signed, but not ratified: : Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation

Images

File:Iceland satellite.jpg, True colour satellite image of Iceland in winter File:Icelandic_landscapes.jpg, Three typical Icelandic landscapes File:SulfurLake.jpg, Iceland is rich in

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

deposits. File:Eyjafjallajokull-April-17.JPG , The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull File:Norðfjörður .JPG , Norðfjörður File:Landscape during Laugavegur hiking trail 3.jpg , Landscape as seen from Laugavegur hiking trail File:Iceland2008-Sudureyri.JPG , Suðureyri

Maps

File:Map of Iceland.svg, Map of Iceland showing major towns and geographical features File:Volcanic system of Iceland-Map-en.svg, Active volcanic areas and systems in Iceland File:Iceland Mid-Atlantic Ridge Fig16.gif, Map showing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge splitting Iceland and separating the North American and Eurasian Plates File:NQ-27-28.jpg, Topographic map of Iceland File:Iceland2022OSM.png, Comprehensive map of Iceland

References

External links

Iceland at the CIA World Factbook
* {{World's largest islands