Iceland review - 2016, Page 27

ICELAND REVIEW 25
Iceland is rich, super rich, in water.
Water is everywhere: waterfalls, rivers,
glaciers and lakes. Lakes cover 2,757 km²
(1,064 miles²), close to three percent of
Iceland, while glaciers cover 12,000 km²,
or 11.5 percent.
The longest river in the Republic is
Þjórsá in South Iceland, 230 km (143
miles) long. The largest lake is Þórisvatn,
in the southern part of the highlands, and
the second largest is Þingvallavatn, just
east of Reykjavík.
At roughly 540,000 m3 (18.8 million
ft.3) per person per year, Iceland has the
largest internal freshwater resources per
capita of any independent country in the
world. Guyana is second with 316,000
m3. Meanwhile the US has just 9,800
m3, the UK 2,300 m3 and Israel a mere
250 m3.
The waterfalls Gullfoss and Dettifoss
are two of Iceland’s top destinations, as
are the lakes Mývatn and Þingvallavatn,
and Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, located
400 km (250 miles) east of Reykjavík,
right by the massive Vatnajökull glacier.
Then there are the hidden gems, like
lake Kýlingarvatn, or Skaftá river, near
Kirkjubæjarklaustur.
And let’s not forget the blessed hori-
zontal snow and rain which also help
make Iceland so special and so H²O-
rich… *
H2O
BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.