Hvolsvöllur

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Hvolsvöllur
Town
Location of the Municipality of Rangárþing eystra
Hvolsvöllur
Location in Iceland
Coordinates: 63°45′N 20°14′W / 63.750°N 20.233°W / 63.750; -20.233
Country  Iceland
Constituency[1] Suðurkjördæmi
Region[2] Suðurland
County Rangárvallasýsla
Municipality Rangárþing eystra
Population (2011)
 • Total 860
Time zone GMT (UTC+0)
Website Official website
Gas station in Hvolsvöllur

Hvolsvöllur is a small town in the south of Iceland about 106 km to the east of Reykjavík.

It is situated in the inland swamps of Landeyjar, in the municipality of Rangárþing eystra and has, as of January 2011, 860 inhabitants.

Overview

The hringvegur (road no.1) traverses the town which has 900 inhabitants. In the surrounding areas there is an additional population of about 800 people, who are also part of the municipality.

Not far from Hvolsvöllur is an airfield which offers flights to Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands).

Þórsmörk, a beautiful valley below the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, is also not too far away.

The area is the scene of one of the most famous sagas of Iceland, Njál's saga. The town of Hvolsvöllur has a Saga Centre dedicated to this and other Icelandic sagas.

In 2010, the volcanic eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull caused evacuations in the surrounding area, with people being relocated to Hvolsvöllur, where Red Cross mass care centres has been set up.[3]

See also

  • List of cities in Iceland

References

  1. ↑ Political division
  2. ↑ Mainly statistical division
  3. ↑ "Hundreds evacuated after Icelandic volcano erupts, first since 1823". Thaindian News. 2010-03-21. Retrieved 2010-03-24. 

External links

1Icelandic settlements with city or town status. Not to be confused with the municipalities.

Coordinates: 63°45′N 20°14′W / 63.750°N 20.233°W / 63.750; -20.233

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