Snæfellsnes

Location in Iceland

The Snæfellsnes (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈstn̥aiːfɛlsˌnɛːs]) is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland.

It has been named Iceland in Miniature, because many national sights can be found in the area, including the Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest mountain on the peninsula and has a glacier at its peak (jökull means "glacier" in Icelandic). The volcano can be seen on clear days from Reykjavík, a distance of about 120 km. The mountain is also known as the setting of the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by the French author Jules Verne. The area surrounding Snæfellsjökull has been designated one of the four National Parks by the government of Iceland.

The peninsula is one of the main settings in the Laxdœla saga and it was, according to this saga, the birthplace of the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard, Bolli Bollasson. Other historical people who lived in the area according to the saga include Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, Bolli Þorleiksson and Snorri the Goði.

Snæfellsjökull

Arnarstapi on Snæfellsnes

Local fishing villages and small towns on the northern shore of Snæfellsnes include Arnarstapi, Hellnar, Rif, Ólafsvík, Grundarfjörður, Stykkishólmur and Búðardalur.

Near Hellissandur is the tallest structure in western Europe, the Longwave Radio Mast at Hellissandur.

In June 2008, the people of Snaefellsnes reached certification status as an EarthCheck community, becoming the first EarthCheck-certified area in Iceland and in Europe, and only the fourth in the world. Snaefellsnes has been committed to the EarthCheck programme since 2003 and has been successfully benchmarked for the past five consecutive years.

See also

• Geography of Iceland
• Volcanism in Iceland
• EarthCheck

External links

• Information on the national park
• Photo of mountain Kirkjufell near Grundarfjörður
• Official website, Westiceland