The land of ice and fire: Iceland

Iceland, the land of ice and fire. It is a small island located in the North Atlantic ocean, with a similar size to Hungary is not a very large country. Iceland is not only an incredible place to visit, but also a place of incredibly diverse geography and natural beauty. The country has a very small population of only ~300'000 people; with the capital of Reykjavik's population at ~120'000 people. Iceland is incredibly famous worldwide for its volcanos, natural hot springs and stunning natural beauty


Perhaps most recently in 2010 the eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and caused massive disruption in the European airspace for air travellers because, of the ash clouds which. could've damaged jet engines. Iceland has many other volcanos vastly larger than the aforementioned such as; Hekla and Katla. These volcanos have the potential to cause much greater destruction. They have the potential to cause so called 'volcanic-winters' which is when the volcanic ash in the atmosphere from the eruption blocks out the sunlight and can temporarily cool the Earth causing: crop failure, death of animals and famine. I find it incredible that such a small island has the potential to cause global effects.


Iceland is the least populated country in Europe (with only roughly 320'000 people) and yet it has become one of the most popular and trendy tourist destinations to visit. Iceland's airlines, both its flagship carrier(Icelandair) and Its budget airlines (WOW air) both have offers which offer low fares between Europe and North America with a stopover in between in Iceland for up to a week. This has been a hugely successful campaign bringing a lot of tourism to Iceland.


I, myself have never visited Iceland however, I intend to do so in the not too distant future. I would intent to visit the Blue Lagoon which is an enormous hot spring and is one of the most famous in the world. I would also intend to visit the other volcanic sites of Iceland such as Katla and Heckla. I would also intend to spend a couple days generally hiking around Iceland to observe its natural beauty. The documentary that I've linked above is a documentary by National Geographic and is a great source of information if you would like to learn more about Iceland.


Thanks for reading!
Jonah