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Iceland
DestinationsIceland is the second-largest island in Europe, out-ranked only by Great Britain. Some 4,603 square miles, or 11% of the island=s total area, is covered by glaciers. Another 1,065 square miles are covered with lakes, while 3% is covered with lava. A mere 1% of the land is used for growing crops.
Measuring 185 miles from north to south and 305 miles from east to west, the country has 3,700 miles of rugged coastline. It straddles a submarine ridge that connects Scotland and Greenland, as well as the Mid-Atlantic Rift, one of the planet's major geological faults.
Roughly half of the island belongs in Europe and the other half in North America. The tiny island of Grimsey, off the north coast, sits directly atop the Arctic Circle.
Iceland rises to an average height of 1,640 feet, but its highest point, Hvannadalshnjukur, is a 6,925-foot mountain. Beneath the mountain is Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in all of Europe.
Geologically, Iceland is one of the youngest bodies of land in the world... and it's still changing.
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Fast Fact:
Reykjavik
103,001 sq km (39,770 sq mi)
318,006 (2010)
Icelandic
Icelandic krónur (kr) ISK
+354
$12.148 billion (2009)
currency(symbol):
kr
Last updated November 24, 2010
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