Where is Iceland on the map

Image: MyBlog

Located in the extreme north of Europe, on the Arctic Circle, Iceland It is an island marked by the rigors of cold, with an icy landscape broken up by its many volcanoes and geysers. Its capital is Reykjavik, with about 124,000 inhabitants, followed in importance by other cities such as Kópavogur, Akureyri, Hafnarfjördur and Reykjanesbaes. Next, in this lesson from unPROFESOR.com, we are going to find out where is Iceland on the map so that you can easily locate it and, in addition, know a little more in depth this country.

Index

1. Iceland, land of ice in the North Atlantic
2. Geography of Iceland
3. The origins of the Icelanders
4. Curiosities of Iceland

Island located in the extreme northwest AtlanticIt is the second largest in Europe and the third largest in the Atlantic Ocean. As a country, the Republic of Iceland is distributed by the homonymous island and other adjacent ones between Greenland and the European continent.

Iceland has a surface area of ​​103,125 km², with an approximate population of 329,000 inhabitants and a low density of 3.19 inhabitants / km². It enjoys a coastline of 4,970 km, located 287 km from Greenland, 800 from Scotland and 970 from Norway.

Image: The murmur

Iceland is a mountainous and volcanic island, with lowlands from the coast inland. The glacial zone is located mainly in the south and west, there are about 100, and their coasts are rocky and very irregular, with natural fjords except for the southern area, where there are beaches sandy.

To know where Iceland is on the map we have to put heading to the extreme north of Europe, in the arctic circle. Despite the cold Icelandic climate, it should also be noted that there is some mitigation of these rigors on the coasts eastern and southern thanks to the Gulf Stream, although the ice remains for seven to eight months year.

The highest point in Iceland is the Oraefajökull, with 2,119 meters, existing around 200 volcanoes and a large number of geysers and alkaline hot springs, as well as small lakes and rivers. The Icelandic landscape is truly impressive and it is not surprising that Jules Verne was inspired by it in his work 'Journey to the center of the Earth', in which its protagonists descend into an underground world through the volcano Snæfellsjökull.

The norwegians they reached Icelandic shores in the 9th century, the island being Christianized two centuries later. In the middle of the 13th century it was annexed to Norway. A century later it was incorporated into Denmark, on which it depended until 1917.

In 1918 he obtained the autonomy of Denmark. In World War II, allied troops from the United Kingdom and the United States will occupy the territory. Finally, the Icelanders they will achieve independence on June 17, 1944, finalizing the existing agreement with the Danish crown. His admission to the UN dates from November 19, 1946.

Currently, Iceland is linked to the European Union through the Agreement on the European Economic Area, which has existed since 1994. Despite the fact that since 2010 the negotiations for its accession to the European Union began, these are currently suspended, although the island is part of the Schengen area.

The current government in Iceland is a coalition between the Left-Green Movement, the Progressive Party and the Independence Party, led by the Prime Minister. Katrín Jakobsdóttir. The State is chaired by Gudhni Thór Jóhannesson since August 1, 2016.

There are three national parks:

• The Thingvellir, in the mid-Atlantic ridge basin, of great geological, historical and cultural value.
• The Snæfellsjökull, where a volcano of the same name and a glacial stand out.
• The Vatnajökull, which is the largest European national park, and which stands out for its glaciers.

Volcanic activity has also been exploited by Icelanders for use as geothermal energy. It should be noted that more than 90% of the homes on the island use this energy for heating, being a clean and cheap energy. It is also used in a large number of greenhouses, which allows the country to grow vegetables and fruits despite the cold and harsh climate of these latitudes.

Icelandic vegetation is sparse and only 20% of the land is arable, locating mostly in the south and west. There are also large uninhabited areas in the interior. The main Icelandic resource is the fishing, especially the capture of hake and herring, the most exported products being frozen fish, salted fish and fishmeal and fish oil.

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