Vestmannaeyjar (English: The
Westmen Isles) is a small
archipelagoAn archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek arkhon and pelagos...
off the south coast of
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
. The largest island,
HeimaeyHeimaey is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster, approximately 4 nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland...
, has a population of 4,036. The other islands are uninhabited, though two have single hunting cabins. The archipelago came to international attention in 1973 when Icelanders battled to prevent lava from the volcano
EldfellEldfell is a composite volcanic cone just over 200 metres high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption which began without warning just outside the town of Heimaey on 23 January 1973. Its name means Mountain of Fire in Icelandic.The eruption caused a major crisis...
blocking Heimaey's harbour.
Vestmannaeyjar consists of the following islands:
- Heimaey
Heimaey is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster, approximately 4 nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland...
(13.4 km²)
- Surtsey
Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At it is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island...
(1.4 km²)
- Elliðaey (0.45 km²)
- Bjarnarey (0.32 km²)
- Álsey (0.25 km²)
- Suðurey (0.20 km²)
- Brandur (0.1 km²)
- Hellisey
Hellisey is an island in the Vestmann Islands, south of Iceland....
(0.1 km²)
- Súlnasker (0.03 km²)
- Geldungur (0.02 km²)
- Geirfuglasker
Geirfuglasker was one or a few small islet near Iceland. It was volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs, which made it inaccessible to humans, and the last refuge for the Great Auk...
(0.02 km²)
- the islands Hani, Hæna and Hrauney and the skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef.The term skerry is derived from the Old Norse sker, which means a rock in the sea. The Old Norse term sker was brought into the English language via the Scots language...
Grasleysa are called Smáeyjar (small islands).
Total: 16,3 km²
The islands are named after the
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
who were captured into
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
by the
Norse GaelsThe Norse-Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region and western Scotland for a large part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
.
Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland
|
The cone of the dormant HelgafellHelgafell is an inactive 227 meter high volcanic cone located on the island of Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago in Iceland.The Stórhöfði peninsula immediately to the south of Helgafell in what is now southern Heimaey formed about 6000 years ago, with Helgafell forming from a secondary...
volcano seen from the summit rim of EldfellEldfell is a composite volcanic cone just over 200 metres high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption which began without warning just outside the town of Heimaey on 23 January 1973. Its name means Mountain of Fire in Icelandic.The eruption caused a major crisis...
volcano, island of Heimaey |
|
Location of VestmannaeyjarVestmannaeyjar is a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,036. The other islands are uninhabited, though two have single hunting cabins...
in IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
(lower left) |
| County ||Iceland is traditionally divided into 23 counties, sýslur, and 25 independent towns, kaupstaðir. Today this division is no longer significant as far as administration is concerned...
| Vestmannaeyjar |
ConstituencyIceland is divided into 6 constituencies for the purpose of selecting representatives to the Alþingi . The current division was established by a 1999 constitution amendment and was an attempt to balance the weight of different districts of the country whereby voters in the rural districts have...
| South |
AreaArea is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron...
| 16.3 km² (6.3 sq mi) |
PopulationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
Total (2008)
DensityThe density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is ρ .- Formula :Mathematically:where: is the density, is the mass, is the volume....
|
4038
313/km² |
| Postal code A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.Germany was the first country to introduce a postal code system, in 1941...
s | IS-900 |
Latitude
Longitude
|
|
| Municipal website |
Vestmannaeyjar (English: The
Westmen Isles) is a small
archipelagoAn archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek arkhon and pelagos...
off the south coast of
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
. The largest island,
HeimaeyHeimaey is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster, approximately 4 nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland...
, has a population of 4,036. The other islands are uninhabited, though two have single hunting cabins. The archipelago came to international attention in 1973 when Icelanders battled to prevent lava from the volcano
EldfellEldfell is a composite volcanic cone just over 200 metres high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption which began without warning just outside the town of Heimaey on 23 January 1973. Its name means Mountain of Fire in Icelandic.The eruption caused a major crisis...
blocking Heimaey's harbour.
Geography
Vestmannaeyjar consists of the following islands:
- Heimaey
Heimaey is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster, approximately 4 nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland...
(13.4 km²)
- Surtsey
Surtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At it is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island...
(1.4 km²)
- Elliðaey (0.45 km²)
- Bjarnarey (0.32 km²)
- Álsey (0.25 km²)
- Suðurey (0.20 km²)
- Brandur (0.1 km²)
- Hellisey
Hellisey is an island in the Vestmann Islands, south of Iceland....
(0.1 km²)
- Súlnasker (0.03 km²)
- Geldungur (0.02 km²)
- Geirfuglasker
Geirfuglasker was one or a few small islet near Iceland. It was volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs, which made it inaccessible to humans, and the last refuge for the Great Auk...
(0.02 km²)
- the islands Hani, Hæna and Hrauney and the skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef.The term skerry is derived from the Old Norse sker, which means a rock in the sea. The Old Norse term sker was brought into the English language via the Scots language...
Grasleysa are called Smáeyjar (small islands).
Total: 16,3 km²
Name and history
The islands are named after the
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
who were captured into
slaverySlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
by the
Norse GaelsThe Norse-Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region and western Scotland for a large part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
. The
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
word
Vestmenn, literally "Westmen", was applied to the Irish, and retained in
IcelandicIcelandic is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Its closest relatives are Faroese and certain Norwegian dialects such as Telemark dialect and Sognamål....
even though
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
is more easterly than Iceland. Not long after
Ingólfur ArnarsonIngólfr Arnarson is recognized as the first permanent Nordic settler of Iceland. According to Landnáma he built his homestead in Reykjavík in 874...
arrived in Iceland, his
blood brotherBlood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth, who swear loyalty to one another. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a Blood Oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together...
Hjörleifur was murdered by the slaves he had brought with him. Ingolfur tracked them down to Vestmannaeyjar and killed them all in retribution.
On June 20, 1627, in an event known as the Turkish abductions, the islands were captured by a fleet of 15 ships (12 galleys and 3 other types of vessels) of Barbary Pirates from
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
, under the guidance of Murat Reis; who stayed there for 26 days until July 16, 1627. The forces of Murat Reis enslaved 400 people from the islands and took them to Algiers (after a voyage which lasted 27 days) where most of them spent the rest of their lives in bondage. One of the captives,
Ólafur EgilssonÓlafur Egilsson was an Icelandic priest. He was abducted along with his wife and two sons by Barbary Pirates during their raid on Vestmannaeyjar. This raid is known in Icelandic history as Tyrkjaránið . He returned to Vestmannaeyjar in 1628 but his wife Ásta Þorsteinsdóttir did not return until...
, later managed to return back and wrote a book about his experience. Subsequently, a Turkish corsair named Ali Biçin Reis also came to the archipelago and Iceland itself, from where he took 800 slaves.
The area is very volcanically active, like the rest of
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
. There were two major eruptions in the 20th century: the
EldfellEldfell is a composite volcanic cone just over 200 metres high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption which began without warning just outside the town of Heimaey on 23 January 1973. Its name means Mountain of Fire in Icelandic.The eruption caused a major crisis...
eruption of January 1973 which created a 700-foot-high mountain where a meadow had been, and caused the island's 5000 inhabitants to be temporarily evacuated to the mainland, and an eruption in 1963 created the new island of
SurtseySurtsey is a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland. At it is also the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. The eruption lasted until 5 June 1967, when the island...
.
From 1998 to 2003 the islands were home to
KeikoKeiko was a male orca who starred in the three Free Willy movies, and was perhaps the most famous of captive orcas. Keiko died on December 12, 2003, from pneumonia, in the Taknes Fjord, Norway.- Life :...
the killer whale, star of
Free WillyFree Willy is a 1993 family film directed by Simon Wincer, and released by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. The film stars Jason James Richter as a young boy who befriends an Orca....
.
The islands are famed in
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
for their yearly
festivalA festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.Among many religions, a feast or festival is a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable...
,
Þjóðhátíð (
Thjodhatid, English: "national festival". See
Wiktionary:þjóð), which attracts a large portion of the nation's youth. The festival was originally held in 1874, concurrent with Iceland's celebration commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the inhabitation of Iceland. Vestmannaeyjar residents had been prevented by weather from sailing to the mainland for the festivities and thus celebrated locally. Over the last century, the festival has grown to become the largest festival in Iceland, with an annual attendance of 10,000, with up to 7,000 travelling from mainland Iceland.
The current Mayor of Vestmannaeyjar is Elliði Vignisson.
See also
- Geography of Iceland
Iceland is the second-largest island in Europe. The island is located east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the divergent boundary of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies about from New York City and from Scotland.Iceland has extensive volcanic...
- Glaciers of Iceland
The glaciers of Iceland cover 11.1% of the land area of the country and have a considerable impact on its landscape....
- Iceland plume
The Iceland Plume is an upwelling of anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle beneath Iceland whose origin probably lies at the boundary between the core and the mantle at ca. 2880 km depth. It is generally thought to be the cause of the formation of Iceland and its volcanism, which characterizes...
- Lakes of Iceland
- List of islands off Iceland
- List of volcanoes in Iceland
- Rivers of Iceland
- Volcanism in Iceland
- Waterfalls of Iceland
Iceland is unusually suited for waterfalls. This small island country has a north Atlantic climate that produces frequent rain or snow and a near-Arctic location that produces large glaciers, whose summer melts feed many rivers...
- Guðlaugur Friðþórsson The "Miracle Man"
External links