Eastern Region ( is, Austurland ) is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in eastern

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Its area is and in 2020 its population was 13,173. The Eastern Regions has a jagged coastline of

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

s, referred to as the Eastfjords ( ). The largest town in the region is

Egilsstaðir Egilsstaðir () is a town in east Iceland on the banks of the Lagarfljót river. It is part of the municipality of Múlaþing and the largest settlement of the Eastern Region with, as of 2020, a population of 2,522 inhabitants. Formerly Egilss ...

, with a population of 2,300. The oldest municipality is

Djúpivogur Djúpivogur () is a small town and municipality (Djúpavogshreppur ) located on a peninsula in the Austurland region in eastern Iceland, near the island of Papey and on the fjord Berufjörður. The municipality was formed by the merger of rural ...

, which got their trading licence in 1589 and had a population of 470 in 2015. The only car and passenger ferry that sails between Iceland and the European continent calls at

Seyðisfjörður Seyðisfjörður () is a town in the Eastern Region of Iceland at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name. The town is located in the municipality of Múlaþing. A road over Fjarðarheiði mountain pass (elevation ) connects Seyðisfjö ...

once a week in the summer months and intermittently the rest of the year. The region is home to the

Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( is, Kárahnjúkavirkjun ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( is, Fljótsdalsstöð ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annuall ...

. Among notable tourist destinations are the Helgustaðir mine, which is known for its

Iceland spar Iceland spar, formerly called Iceland crystal ( is, silfurberg , ) and also called optical calcite, is a transparent variety of calcite, or crystallized calcium carbonate, originally brought from Iceland, and used in demonstrating the polarizati ...

, and Stuðlagil.

External links

* {{Iceland-geo-stub

See also

External links