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Geographical Details of Iceland

Iceland map

Iceland is a rather large island with a size of 103,000 square kilometers (39,768 square miles) and is situated directly under the polar circle, with a shortest distance of 280 kilometers from Greenland, 420 kilometers of the Faroes and 800 kilometers away from Scotland. With a population of bit more about 348,000 people Iceland is the most thinly settled state of Europe. Over half of the Icelanders live in the region of the capital Reykjavik.

Position and surface area

Iceland is sutuated in the North Atlantic Ocean between the 63rd und 66th °N and 13th und 24th °W. The shortest distance to Greenland is about 286 kilometers and 950 kilometers to Norway.

Position:

North 66°32´29´´ N
South 63°23´31´´ N
East 13°30´06´´ W
West 24°32´12´´ W

Iceland has a similar area as the state Virginia in the USA or aout 80% of the area of England.

Total area: 103,000 km²

Total area including fishery: 758,000 km²

Main island: 102,700 km²

Wasteland 62.6 %
cultivated area 1.5 %
Greater Reykjavik 1.0 %
Grassland 1,3 %
Lakes 2,9 %
Forest 1,5 %
Glaciers 11,6 %
Lava 11 %

Coastline:

Küstenlinie: 6,088 km

Topographic details

The largest islands beside the main island:

Heimaey (Westman Islands) 13.4 km²
Hrísey (Eyjarförður) 8.0 km²
Hjörsey (Mýrar, Faxafloí) 5.5 km²
Grímsey (North Iceland) 5.3 km²
Flatey (Skjálfandi bay) 2.8 km²
Málmey (Skagafjörður) 2.4 km²
Papey (Southeast coast) 2.0 km²
Viðey (Bay of Reykjavik) 1.7 km²
Surtsey (Westman Islands) 1.7 km²


The largest lakes and their max. depth:

Þórisvatn * 88 km² 113 m
Þingvallavatn 83 km² 114 m
Lögurinn 53 km² 112 m
Mývatn 37 km² 4 m
Hvítárvatn 30 km² 85 m
Langisjór 26 km² 73 m
Skorradalsvatn 15 km² 57 m
Svínavatn 12 km² 39 m
Öskjuvatn 11 km² 217 m
Jökulsárlón 8 km² 260 m

* Due to structural measures Þórisvatn is the largest lake of Iceland today. But the largest natural lake is Þingvallavatn.


The longest rivers and their watersheds:

Þórsá 230 km 7,500 km²
Jökulsá á Fjöllum 206 km 7,850 km²
Hvítá/Ölfusá 185 km 6,100 km²
Skjálfandafljót 178 km 3,950 km²


Glaciers and Ice caps:

Vatnajökull 8,300 km²
Landjökull 953 km²
Hofsjökull 925 km²
Mýrdalsjökull 596 km²
Drangajökull 160 km²
Eyjafallajökull 78 km²
Tungnafellsjökul 48 km²
Snæfellsjökull 11 km²
All glaciers 11,922 km²


The highest and most importent mountains:

Hvannadalshnúkur 2,119 m
Báðarbunga 2,000 m
Kverkfjöll 1,920 m
Snæfell 1,833 m
Hofsjökull 1,765 m
Herðubreið 1,682 m
Eiriksjökull 1,675 m
Eyjafjallajökull 1,666 m
Hekla 1,491 m
Mýrdalsjökull 1,480 m
Snæfellsjökull 1,446 m


The highest and most important waterfalls:

Morsárfoss 227 m
Glymur 190 m
Háifoss 122 m
Hengifoss 110 m
Seljalandsfoss 65 m
Skógafoss 62 m
Dettifoss 44 m
Gullfoss 32 m
Ófærufoss 26 m
Goðafoss 12 m
Öxaráfoss 10 m
Svartifoss 8 m

The Population of Iceland

Iceland has about 348,000 inhabitants, which is nearly similar to the city of New Orleans in the USA or Leicester in England. The densely populated area of Iceland is Greater Reykjavik. The share of foreign nationals is about 0.12 percent.

The following table shows the geographical population distribution in Iceland. (Last update: 01.01.2018)

Population 348,450
Population density 3.383 Inhabitants/km²
Capital region 222,484
 thereof Reykjavik 124,847
Southwest Iceland 25,770
West Iceland 16,257
Westfjords 6,994
Northwest Iceland 7,195
Nordeast Iceland 30,453
 thereof Akureyri 18,542
East Iceland 12,791
South Iceland 26,506


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