Iceland has no less than three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, considered to have such cultural, historical, or scientific significance that they provide outstanding value to humanity. These are the island of Surtsey, Vatnajökull National Park and Þingvellir National Park.
What is a World Heritage Site?
A World Heritage Site is a natural or cultural site that demonstrates influence or significance in a global context (or has an “Outstanding Universal Value”), and has been inscribed on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee.
Þingvellir National Park
By far the best known of these three sites, Þingvellir is Iceland’s main national park and the one closest to the capital, around 40 km away and also part of the beloved Golden Circle route. Þingvellir is a rift valley bordered by Iceland’s largest lake, Þingvallavatn. Þingvellir became a World Heritage Site in 2004.
Þingvellir has a historic significance for Icelanders as the gathering place of the first parliament in Iceland or a general assembly. It kept this role for over 800 years, until 1798.
Þingvellir is also a unique place for another reason: here the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Their slow drift apart (about 19 mm per year) leaves behind the crystal-clear Silfra fissure, where people can snorkel and dive while floating over the continental rift. The park also has camping grounds, an information center, and hiking trails.
Vatnajökull National Park
Stretching down from the highlands to the coast in South East Iceland, Vatnajökull National Park is over 14 thousand square kilometers, covering roughly 14% of the total areal of Iceland.
The national park was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2019 due an outstanding example representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.
Iceland is sometimes referred to as “land of fire and ice” and this nickname derives from the landscapes around Vatnajökull National Park. The glacier Vatnajökull is Europe’s largest, with majestic glacial rivers, active volcanoes, dramatically shaped canyons and powerful waterfalls.
Among the highlights of the national park are Svartifoss in Skaftafell with its hexagonal basalt cliff surroundings, Ásbyrgi canyon on the other side (North Iceland), and not to forget the vast highlands.
Surtsey Island
Surtsey Island is the least known of the three World Heritage Sites in Iceland, which is no wonder when considering that it is protected and not accessible to the general public. It is also small, only 1.5 square kilometers, and has only existed since the 60s when it was formed in a volcanic eruption. The island made UNESCO’s list in 2008.
The island is located off the South coast of Iceland and southwest of Heimaey (the only inhabited island of Westman Islands). Surtsey has been of great interest to botanists and biologists since it gives great indicators of how plants and animals settle across a brand new land. Globally, there are just a handful of places where new islands have emerged within living memory.
Subsidence and erosion have taken its toll on the island in its relatively short lifetime, and today it is only half of its original size from the 60s. Scientists estimate that it will sink back below the sea sometime after the end of this century.
Initially, Surtsey was home only to bare rock, seals, and gulls. Slowly, seeds were blown there by winds and ocean currents. More seabirds landed. Moss and insects showed up; seals attracted orcas; the first earthworm was found on Surtsey in 1993, and the first bush began to grow in 1998.
