Editing Heimaey

{{Short description|Island in iceland}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Heimaey
| image_name       = Aerial view of Heimaey, 2009-02-01.jpg
| image_caption    = Heimaey in February 2009. Looking north-east
| image_size       = 300px
| map_image        = Vestmannaeyjar archipelago topographic map-en.svg
| map_caption      = 
| native_name      = 
| native_name_link = 
| nickname         = 
| location         = [[Iceland]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|63|26|N|20|16|W|region:IS_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago      = [[Vestmannaeyjar]]
| total_islands    = 15
| major_islands    = 
| area_km2         = 13.4
| highest_mount    = [[Heimaklettur (volcano)|Heimaklettur]]
| elevation_m      = 200
| country          = [[Iceland]]
| population       = 4,500
| population_as_of = 
| density_km2      = 
| ethnic_groups    = 
| additional_info  =
}}

{{Location map | Iceland
| width      = 300
| float      = 
| border     = 
| caption    = Heimaey off southwest Iceland
| alt        = 
| relief     = yes
| AlternativeMap = 
| label      = Heimaey
| label_size = 
| position   = 
| background = 
| mark       = 
| marksize   = 
| link       = 
| lat_deg    = 63
| lat_min    = 25
| lat_sec    = 
| lat_dir    = N
| lon_deg    = 20
| lon_min    = 17
| lon_sec    = 
| lon_dir    = W
}}
[[File:Puerto de Vestmannaeyjar, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 017-019 PAN.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Heimaey harbour in 2014]]
[[File:Heimaey.JPG|thumb|View from the [[Helgafell (volcano)|Helgafell]], looking north-west]]

'''Heimaey''' ({{IPA|is|ˈheiːmaˌeiː|Icelandic pronunciation:|Heimaey pronunciation.ogg}}), is an [[Iceland]]ic island. At {{convert|13.4|km2|mi2}}, it is the largest island in the [[Vestmannaeyjar]] archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. Heimaey is {{convert|4|nmi|km mi}} off the south coast of [[Iceland]]. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of 4,414.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population by urban nuclei, sex and age 1 January 2001-2022 |url=https://px.hagstofa.is:443/pxenpxen/pxweb/en/Ibuar/Ibuar__mannfjoldi__2_byggdir__Byggdakjarnar/MAN030101.px/ |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=PX-Web }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The [[Vestmannaeyjar Airport]] and the [[Westman Islands Golf Club]] taken together cover a good portion of the island.

In January 1973, lava flow from nearby [[Eldfell]] destroyed half the town and threatened to close its harbour, its main income source. An operation to cool the advancing lava with sea water saved the harbour.

== History ==

=== First settlers ===
In tradition, Herjólfur Bárðarson was said to be the first person to settle in Heimaey. According to the ''Landnáma'', he built his farm in Herjólfsdalur (literally: Herjólf's valley) about 900. The [[archaeological]] excavation in 1971 of ancient ruins in Herjólfsdalur revealed that there had been settlement nearly 100 years earlier.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visitwestmanislands.com | title=About Westman Islands | work=Visit Westman Islands | access-date=December 21, 2012 | author=Jonsson, Sigurgeir}}</ref>

=== Turkish raid ===
In 1627, three Arab pirate ships from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-controlled [[Barbary Coast]] [[Turkish Abductions|raided]] several towns on the south coast of Iceland and outlying islands.<ref name="Tinniswood">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBSVMivndEQC&q=1627+muslim+raid+iceland&pg=PT116 | title=Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean | publisher=Penguin | author=Tinniswood, Adrian | year=2010 | isbn=9781101445310 | access-date=2012-12-21}}</ref> They attacked [[Grindavík]] and Heimaey. In Grindavík, townspeople could flee into the lava field of Reykjanes and hide indefinitely.  Heimaey was so isolated that it was vulnerable and people suffered. Many heroic stories were told of the people who survived the invasion, most notably [[Guðríður Símonardóttir]]. Better known as Tyrkja-Gudda (Turkish-Gudda), she was taken by the pirates from her home at Stakkagerði on Heimaey to the slave market in [[Algeria]]. She was eventually ransomed back to Denmark by King [[Christian IV of Denmark]] and was re-educated by and later married the poet [[Hallgrímur Pétursson]]. The [[Hallgrímskirkja]] [[Lutheran]] church in [[Reykjavík]] is named in his honour.

== Eldfell ==
[[File:Eldfell_eruption_en.svg|thumb|Sketch showing the changes to Heimaey caused by the eruption of Eldfell]]
{{main|Eldfell}}
At 01:00 on 23 January 1973, a volcanic eruption of the mountain [[Eldfell]] began on Heimaey. The ground on Heimaey started to quake and [[fissure vent|fissures]] formed. The fissures grew to {{convert|1600|m|ft}} in length, and [[lava]] began to erupt. Lava sprayed into the air from the fissures. Volcanic ash was blown to sea.  Later, the situation deteriorated. When the fissures closed, the eruption converted to a concentrated lava flow that headed toward the harbour. The winds changed, and half a million cubic metres of ash blew on the town. During the night, the 5,000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats, as almost the entire fishing fleet was in dock.

The encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbour. The eruption lasted until 3 July. Icelanders sprayed the lava with six million tons of cold seawater, causing some to solidify and much to be diverted, thus saving the harbour.<ref>{{cite web|last1=William|first1=Richard|title=Man Against Volcano: The Eruption of Heimay, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland (2nd Edition)|url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/heimaey/heimaey.pdf|website=pubs.usgs.gov|access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref> During the eruption, half of the town was crushed and the island expanded in length.  The eruption increased the area of Heimaey from {{convert|11.2|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} to {{convert|13.44|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}. Only one man died in the eruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grapevine.is/mag/articles/2014/09/26/which-way-|title=Which Way The Wind Blows - The Reykjavik Grapevine|last=grapevine.is|date=26 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="McPhee">{{cite book | title=The Control of Nature | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | author=McPhee, John | year=1989 | location=New York | isbn=0374128901}}</ref> The eruption is described by [[John McPhee]] in his book [[The Control of Nature (book)|''The Control of Nature'']].<ref name="McPhee" />

== Present day ==
Heimaey is home to around 4,500 people, and eight million [[Atlantic puffin|puffin]]s
every summer.<ref>{{cite book | title=Iceland | publisher=Lonely Planet | author=Harding, Paul | year=2004 | page=129}}</ref> Many millions of other birds migrate there for breeding and feeding.

The island is connected to the rest of Iceland by a ferry and [[Vestmannaeyjar Airport]].

Most people on the island live off fishing. During an annual festival, people are allowed to catch a few puffins to share at the festival, or to eat at home.

== In popular culture ==
{{unsourced|section|date=August 2020}}
* Some final shots of Chris Marker's film ''[[Sans Soleil]]'' are of stark white Heimaey houses slowly buried by the deep black volcanic ash of the eruption.  The backdrop reveals splashes of red lava as it flows into a steel-grey sea.
* Heimaey is mentioned in the song [[Leviathan (Mastodon album)|"Island"]] by American progressive-metal band [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]]. The line is "Lava goddess, Ice and fire, Settling down, Ocean Geysir, Gullfoss, Heimaey 73."  This refers to the eruption of [[Eldfell]].
* [[Keiko (orca)|Keiko]] the whale from the ''[[Free Willy (franchise)|Free Willy]]'' films was in real life flown to Klettsvik Bay on Heimaey as his final home before being freed.
* ''Ashes to Dust'' by [[Yrsa Sigurðardóttir]] (2007, English Translation 2011), the third of her murder mysteries set in Iceland, is largely set on Heimaey and focuses round the Eldfell eruption of 1973, and discoveries resulting from excavation, more than 30 years later, of a house buried in the volcanic ash.
* Heimaey features in [[Bruce McMillan]]'s photo-illustrated children book ''[[Nights of the Pufflings]]'' (1995). In the story a tradition of rescuing young birds, [[Atlantic puffin|pufflings]], by local children is told. The pufflings take their first flight on August nights, and get accidentally stranded in the village streets. The children then set them free at the beach at daytime.
* The 1973 album ''Sumut'' by [[Greenland|Greenlandic]] rock band [[Sumé (band)|Sumé]] features a song called "{{lang|kl|Heimaey erĸaivdlugo}}" (English: "Ode to Heimaey").

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Helgafell, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 008.JPG|Helgafell volcano
Eldfell, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 067.jpg|Eldfell volcano
Acantilados de Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 055.JPG|View of the island
Roca del elefante, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 043.JPG|View of the island
Puerto de Vestmannaeyjar, Heimaey, Islas Vestman, Suðurland, Islandia, 2014-08-17, DD 093.JPG|Vestmannaeyjar harbour in Heimaey
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{wikivoyage}}
* [http://www.vestmannaeyjar.is Vestmannaeyjar town council]
* [http://bookingwestmanislands.is/ Travel info ]
* [http://www.visitwestmanislands.com All you need to know about Westman Islands]
* [http://www.eyjafrettir.is Local newspaper]
* [http://www.eyjar.net Local newspaper]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160428163004/http://puffinwalk.com/more-photos/ Photos from Westman Islands] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060831211339/http://www.heimaey.is/thumbnails.php?album=5 Photos]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081204101629/http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/volcanoes/volc_images/europe_west_asia/heimaey/heimaey.html VolcanoWorld page]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020814081226/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0812_020812_TVpuffin.html "Icelandic Kids Save Befuddled Puffins," National Geographic Today]

{{Islands of Iceland}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Vestmannaeyjar]]
[[Category:Islands of Iceland]]