 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2012) |
Vestmannaeyjar | |
|---|---|
Town and municipality | |
 View of Vestmannaeyjabær | |
 Location of the Municipality of Vestmannaeyjar | |
  Vestmannaeyjar Location of Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland | |
| Coordinates: 63°25′00″N 20°17′00″W / 63.41667°N 20.28333°W | |
| Country | Iceland |
| Constituency | South Constituency |
| Region | Southern Region |
| County | Vestmannaeyjar[nb 1] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Íris Róbertsdóttir (2022–present) |
| Area | |
• Total | 17 km2 (7 sq mi) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 4,639 |
| • Density | 250.82/km2 (649.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| Post code | IS-900, 902 |
| Website | www |
Vestmannaeyjar (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈvɛstˌmanːaˌeiːjar̥] , sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland.[1]
The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,639,[2] most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyjabær. The other islands are uninhabited, although six have single hunting cabins. Vestmannaeyjar came to international attention in 1973 with the eruption of Eldfell volcano, which destroyed many buildings and forced a month-long evacuation of the entire population to mainland Iceland. Approximately one-fifth of the town was destroyed before the lava flow was halted by application of 6.8 billion litres of cold sea water.[3]
Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Westman Islands". Icelandic Tourist Board. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
- ^ "Population by urban nuclei, sex and age 1 January 2001-2022". PX-Web. Retrieved 22 June 2022.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Taylor Kate Brown (11 September 2014). "How do you stop the flow of lava?". BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2014.