What is the area of Iceland? Area of Iceland in thousand sq. Km

The history of each country is fascinating and complex. The area of Iceland has been formed for many centuries, despite the fact that it is an island nation. The facts of the geography of this country are huge. What did the coins of the Roman Empire on the island do? Are the Vikings involved in the formation of the state? What is the area of Iceland? About this and much more - on.

Formation of the country

The area of the island of Iceland is now 103 thousand 125 square kilometers. But what happened to the country many centuries ago? For the first time Iceland can find information dating back to the 9th century AD. But already in the modern history of the state there is an event that refutes the basic theory of its formation. The fact is that on the island were found Roman coins, which were used in the III century AD. E.

This event can probably be explained by the fact that the Vikings later brought money to the island, but this is not known for certain. Perhaps the area of Iceland was investigated before the IX century. This fact is confirmed by the words of the seafarer from Greece, who in the IV century BC. E. Described a similar territory.

Help of the gods

There is a theory that suggests that the Irish monks found the island of Iceland. The territory they needed was to pray to their gods. First they found the Faroe Islands, which were still deserted and not inhabited, and later, perhaps, reached and "Frozen Land".

There is an assumption that the name of Thule was the first name for the current country. There the monks were already at the end of the VIII century, when the Faroe Islands were inhabited by their relatives, they began to breed sheep, and active livelihoods began.

Data

It is known that the area of the island of Iceland was investigated already in the IX century. From Norway, Nadudd arrived here with other Vikings. They thought that life could be arranged here, but, having ascended to the mountain, they found nothing suitable. When they left the island, snow fell, and Nadudd gave the future state a big name "Snowy Land".

The next visitor was Gardar Swarvarsson. He decided to find out what area is on the island of Iceland, and in general to explore the territory. He for a long time sailed the coast, but in the winter his team became difficult to survive, and it was decided to stop in the northern bay. Then they formed a small settlement, which to this day is called Husavik ("Gulf of houses").

The next Viking conqueror, Floki Wilgirdarsson, decided to get a good look at what the land is like, Iceland. Area of the territory, he went around in search of the city of Gardar. On the way he and his people found a fjord and decided to base themselves here. Hindsight played a cruel joke with his people, all livestock for the winter died from a lack of food. In the spring Floki inspected the fjord, but finding that it was still covered with ice, gave the island the name Iceland ("Land of ice").

Already at the end of the 9th century the settling of the island began. People organized their state system, and in 1000 they formed a faith. Christianity has become their official religion. Icelanders were very educated, so their history remained forever in works of art.

Addiction

It so happened that already before 1918 the country was fighting for its independence, and the area of Iceland in the square. Km as a state could not be determined. First I had to share with Norway, then fight with Denmark.

By a historical accident, when the Danish-Norwegian union was annulled, all territories had to withdraw to Sweden. But Iceland was "forgotten" about Iceland, and it remained under the rule of Denmark. For a long time the discontented inhabitants of the Land of Ice rebuilt their monastery under the rule of another power. They methodically formed the necessary authorities, their education system and the economy.

Release

The state concluded a union with Denmark and became independent on December 1, 1918. The First World War did not affect the island, but brought a flu pandemic here. In World War II, Iceland tried to maintain neutrality, but the British violated it and entered the Reykjavik harbor. In 1944 the island became a completely independent state, exchanging the status of the kingdom for the republic.

basic information

So, we already know what the area of the island of Iceland is. The state territory also occupies 103 thousand km ². This country is located to the west of Northern Europe, to the north in the Atlantic Ocean. It should be noted that in addition to the main island around there are also several small lands belonging to the state.

If you do not take into account the fact that the glaciers occupy more than 11 thousand square kilometers, the area of Iceland in the square. Km will be 92 thousand. By the way, only one fourth of the territory is suitable for living. In the central part of the island there are volcanoes, fields and glaciers.

Between whom to divide the area?

The area of Iceland is divided into sysla and city districts. Sisla, in turn, consists of cities and communes. One of the city districts is Reykjavik. It is located in the first region with the strange name Hövüdborgsvaidid. On the island there are 8 regions and, accordingly, 8 administrative centers.

Capital

It is known that the entire area of the island of Iceland (in km2) includes not only the islands, but also the peninsula. On one of them is the capital of the state - Reykjavik. It occupies only 275 km² of the Seltjarnarnes peninsula. Here live more than half of the total population of the country - 202 thousand people. The remaining 119 thousand live in other major cities: Koupavogure, Khabnarfjordyure, Akureyri, Husavik, and others.

Tourists on the island are very hard to fall asleep in the summer, as there are practically no nights here. The sun sets at midnight and starts to rise already at 2-3 o'clock in the morning. But in winter you can see "white light" only 4 hours a day.

Geographical Surprises

Looking at what area of Iceland, you understand that this island contains many secrets of geography. It is believed that the Land of Ice is a young state that has emerged because of volcanoes active in the last 60 million years.

Those who have never heard of the country and are not interested in it, will be surprised that there are almost 30 volcanoes on the island. And from the moment people inhabited Iceland, 20 of them already violated the peace of man. Interestingly, among the many types of volcanoes, almost all occur on the island. When the eruption of the Laki volcano took place in the late 1780s, the lava covered a huge area of Iceland - more than 570 km ².

Another troubled fire-breathing giant spewed out already in the 20th century twice. One of the underwater volcanoes by 1963 created the island of Iceland - Surtoye. And from one more had to save the inhabitants of a small town in the early 1970s.

Too active

Now the most active is the volcano Eyyafyadlayekudl. His activity began in 2010, the March night. Then many already knew about the impending disaster, since they observed seismic activity at the end of 2009. A month before the eruption could detect the movement of the earth's crust. And in early March it was possible to record more than three thousand shocks per day.

The glaciers began to melt quickly, so the inhabitants of nearby settlements had to be resettled. The airport also had to close for the time of the eruption. The day before the activation of the volcano, terrific tremors began under the earth, approaching the surface. The eruption began on March 20 in the evening. Then in one part of the glacier a fault occurred. At first, the cloud rose to a kilometer in height, but large volumes of ash were not observed.

Later, a few days later, water entered the crater, which led to the explosion of steam and increased activity of the eruption. On the last day of the month, another break occurred, and until April 5th, the volcano spewed lava with two cracks 0.3 and 0.5 km long.

Already in mid-April, the inhabitants had to be resettled again, as the second eruption began. Then the ash rose in the air for 8 kilometers, and the crack was already 2 kilometers long. A few days later, the ash column rose another 5 km higher, which caused it to hit the stratosphere.

Europe, too, was the victim of such an activity fire-breathing giant. On April 15, the countries canceled more than 5 thousand flights. Denmark and the United Kingdom closed their airports. In addition to financial losses, many heads of state could not get to Poland for the funeral of the president.

Ice as a business card

Iceland would not be a "Glacial country", if not for its main attraction - glaciers. The area of Iceland in thousand km2 has given more than 11% to these natural formations. In addition, glaciers significantly affect the climate, flora and fauna of the island, and, of course, its landscape.

More than 11 thousand square kilometers of the whole Iceland occupied these huge "cold mountains". Almost every one of them hid a volcano under it, thereby endangering the entire population. The fact is that geothermal processes are occurring inside, leading to floods. If the volcano begins to actively manifest itself, then there is the possibility of an explosion of ice water, which leads to an eruption.

Most of the glaciers are located inside the island. The largest of them has an area of more than 8 thousand square meters. Km. Just in this area is the highest point of the island - 2109 m. All other glaciers are much smaller.

Water expanses

In addition to ice, the island has water in a liquid state. There are a lot of rivers that formed due to frequent precipitation. Despite the fact that they are large enough, they are not used as a transport route. All because frequent changes in the tectonic structure lead to a change in the flow and divergence of the flows.

There are beautiful large lakes here. The most famous among them are Tingvadlavatn and Taurisvatn. The first has an area of 84 square kilometers and the deepest point is 114 meters. Due to the fact that this is a natural pond, the lake is guarded by the National Park. But Tourisvatn is a reservoir of Iceland. Its area is 88 square kilometers. The lake was created by a dam in order to generate electricity. By the way, it is noteworthy that, unlike other water bodies of the island, Tourisvatn has a bright green color.

Plants

With vegetation in the country is very bad. We know what area of Iceland, we know the number of glaciers on the island. Of the entire territory, only one-fourth of the island is covered with greenery. All this is connected with the soil. It is mineral here because of glaciers and loess type. But the history indicates that more than 1000 years ago the territory of the island was covered by two thirds of plants.

In general, only moss and grass grow from greenery here. Even the woody plants, which previously occupied 1% of the entire territory, have now practically disappeared. Sometimes you can see birches, twisted because of the northern winds. In the cities there are more trees, especially conifers, which are artificially planted by the inhabitants.

As you already know, the area of Iceland is 103 thousand square meters. Km. Imagine 10% of them are lava fields. 60% is stony placer, which allows to grow only moss and lichens. Therefore, there is practically no place for birch forests and grasslands.

Do you have any animals?

Everything is interconnected. Flora without fauna, and the fauna without flora can not exist. Due to the scarce vegetation, the species composition of the fauna also suffers. 1000 years ago there was only a polar fox here. Closer to the 19th century, the reindeer was forcibly relocated here. Also, kind people randomly brought rodents such as mice, rats and mink to the island.

With birds, things are better. There are about 80 of them. Among them, we know swans, ducks and geese. By the way, the most frequent visitor in the lake is a trout, but in the river you can catch salmon. If you go to the coastal areas, you can meet even seals and a couple of species of whales. But in the feeding grounds, there are about 66 species of fish, among which there are important for export countries: halibut, sea bass, cod and shrimp.

More fish

The area of Iceland and its coastal zones dictated the main export product. Naturally, fishing and processing not only gave additional income to the population, but also made the island one of the main exporters. Thanks to fish, 12% of the population of Iceland is employed in this industry. And this product is 70% of the exported goods.

A popular fish from January to May is cod, then the herring takes over. Due to the fact that the North Atlantic suffers from a deficit of this type of fish, there has been a demand for capelin and saithe.

Reykjavik became the place where cod processing was established. But herring is engaged in Siglughyurdur. Here it is processed into fish oil and flour. At the end of the last century, Iceland had problems with catching whales, and she agreed to a moratorium. But later the government allowed a moderate whaling.

What to sell and buy?

To stay afloat, each country must export the goods that it has in abundance. So, 70% of export, as already mentioned, is fish. The remaining percentage is agricultural products and some minerals. The main "buyers" of the state can be considered Germany with England. Iceland is also addressed by the Netherlands, USA, Spain, etc.

But imported products to the island bring equipment and petroleum products, some food products, most often vegetables and fruits, as well as textiles. In this direction the "Ice Country" cooperates with the USA and Germany.

Interesting Facts

Despite the size of Iceland, the country is largely a record holder. Reykjavik is the most northern capital in the world. Iceland itself is the largest island, born thanks to volcanoes.

There are several more record holders in the country, for example, Hekla (volcano) and Vatnajokul (glacier) are the largest natural sites in Europe. This includes the Icelandic waterfall, having a height of 40 meters and a width of 100 meters, it is among the European "water cascades" the most powerful.

An interesting story and with the names of the Icelanders. The residents of the island do not. At birth, the child is given a name, and a patronym or matron is added to the name. If his father's name is Grim, then his son's name will be Grimsson (the son of Grima), as happened in the case of the President of Iceland Oulaviur Ragnar Grimsson. If a girl were born, her name would be Grimdottir (Grima's daughter).

But in the country there are those who got the surname, there are 10% of them. Usually these are those who have moved from another power. Given the legislation, their name goes from parents to children. Among these people, you can meet Icelanders, who received a surname on legal grounds.

In the last century Iceland became a member of the European Economic Area. But in 2015 she refused to join the European Union.

The area of Iceland in Europe occupies only 17th place. This fact struck the whole continent after Iceland was able to pass to the quarterfinals on Euro-2016 and, despite the crushing score from the hosts of the championship in France, proudly defended the honor of its small and small country.

To tourists on a note

The area of Iceland and its location caused instability in the climate and clear rules in the state.

If you decide to go on a trip to explore the territory, be prepared for the fact that you have to deal with changeable weather. It so happens that in May the snow still does not come down, while a thaw can remain until December. If the inhabitants of the country have reconciled with such a basis, then for tourists it can turn into trouble. Therefore, Iceland needs to prepare thoroughly.

If you do not have time to plan your night's lodging, there are specially equipped tent sites around the country, where a sleep with your tent will cost you 2-3 dollars per night. If you chose an unauthorized place or decided to warm yourself with a fire, be prepared for large fines.

There may also be problems with garbage. The mentality of tourists depends on their country. Not all states strictly monitor the cleanliness of the streets, so people who come from such places often forget that they are visiting. Iceland is very careful not only to those who litter the streets, but also to those who cut trees and break branches. It is also forbidden to fish, if the state has not given you permission to do so.

Traveling by car will also lead to trouble if you decide to turn off the road to another location, which is also prohibited on the island.

In the CIS countries there are usually no direct flights to Reykjavik. Therefore, most likely, you will have to travel first to the capitals of Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland, and from there it will not be difficult to fly to Iceland. The cost of the ticket may vary depending on the currency exchange rate, but on average it is $ 1000 per way back and forth.