Quick Summary

ICELAND: The Center and hub of North Atlantic Ocean.

Iceland is a large island in the middle of the North-Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Arctic Circle, between 63.4°N and 66.5°N latitude. Iceland stretches over an area of 103.592 km2 (39.997 sq mi), which is similar to Hungary and Portugal, or the US states Kentucky and Virginia. It is the second-largest island of Europe, following Great Britain, and the 18th largest island globally. At its widest, Iceland measures approximately 500 km (305 miles) east to west and 300 km (185 miles) north to south.    Moss grown lava fields and volcanic raters are common landscapes in Iceland. The coastline of Iceland is 6.542,4 km (40.652,5 miles) long, and Iceland maintains a 200 nautical-miles exclusive economic zone, making the total economic area 751,345 km2 (290,096 sq mi). In addition, numerous smaller islands are found all around the coast, some of which are inhabited. The largest one is Heimaey in the Westman Islands archipelago in the south that is 13,4 km2, Hrísey island in Eyjafjörður fjord in the north covering 8 km2, and Grímsey, a 5,3 km2 large island lying on the Arctic Circle just north of Iceland.  Being an island, it has no land borders with other countries. The nearest neighbor to the west is Greenland, just 286 km (180 miles) away, and although hard to grasp, stretches further south and east than Iceland, and in fact, in any direction. To the east, the Faroe Islands are closest or 420 km (260 miles), Scotland 795 km (495 miles), and Norway 950 km (590 miles). For a comparison of distances, it takes approximately five hours to fly from New York to Reykjavík and less than three hours from London.