Iceland - Land of Fire and Ice

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Ísland
Iceland is a 103,000 km2 island in the North Atlantic ocean, see a different map here.  Glaciers cover 12,000 km2 (12%), Lava covers 11,000 km2 (11%) and Lakes cover 3,000 km2 (3%).

     On these pages I try to describe very nice sites to see in Iceland. I have organized the contents by part of the country, that is South, East, North and West Iceland.

     The information presented here is mostly by personal experience, some of which is several years old, so do take the time and distance estimates with some handsome error limits.

     Whether you plan to hike, drive or camp, Iceland offers a great variety of landscape, from flat sandy planes (parts of south Iceland, Skeiðarársandur in particular) to green pastures (other parts in the south and elsewhere).

     A very short, informal guide to Icelandic (the language) can also be found in the navigation bar on the left.  Finally there are a few little facts and truths about Iceland.

People

Almost all Icelanders have Scandinavian ancestors.

On December 1, 1994 the total population in Iceland was 266,786 people. Of these 150,000 (56.4%) live in the greater capital (Reykjavík) area.

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The Weather
The weather is a source of endless discussions in Iceland.  During summers in the south we usually have cold northern winds when it is sunny, and wet weather with the warm southerly winds.  In the north and east the reverse is approximately true.  There is good weather though quite often (just a bit chilly).

Winters usually don't bring much snow in Reykjavik, but other parts of the country often get a lot !

Useful Links
Edda Hotels - During summers these hotels are operated at boarding schools.  They offer fairly inexpensive sleeping bag accommodations, which basically include everything except the "sæng" (feather blanket, missing the word for it).
Vegagerðin (Public Roads Administration) - This link goes directly to a click-able map of road conditions and weather.  Great resource !!
Daily News from Iceland - A service of Iceland Review
 

Created by Þröstur Þorsteinsson web_iceland_turdus@turdus.net
©Þröstur