Vatnajökull is the largest glacier in Iceland. It is located in the south-east of the island, covering more than 8% of the country. Under the ice cap, as under many of the glaciers of Iceland, there are several volcanoes. The volcanic lakes, Grímsvötn for example, were the sources of a large jökulhlaup (glacial lake outburst flood) in 1996. There was also a considerable but short-time eruption of the volcano under these lakes at the beginning of November 2004. In May 21, 2011 a volcanic eruption started í Grímsvötn in Vatnajökull National Park at around 7 p.m. The plume reached as high as 20 kilometers.
Egilsstaðir is a town in east Iceland on the banks of Lagarfljót river. The town has approximately 2,200 inhabitants. The town is young, even by Icelandic standards where urbanization is a fairly recent trend compared to mainland Europe.
Icelanders are the national group or ethnic group of Iceland descended primarily from Norsemen of Scandinavia and Celts from Ireland and Scotland. Historical and DNA records indicate that around 60 to 80 percent of the settlers were of Nordic origin and the rest were of Celtic stock from the British Isles. They are very friendly!
