Volcano Eruption In Iceland Reminds Rest Of World That Iceland Is Still A Place

Story by Jacob Zlomke 

| Published Apr 27, 2010

The eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull on April 16 has caused effects over the past two weeks that spread much farther than the borders of Iceland. Despite the pollution, hazards to inhabitants and wildlife and a halt on much European air traffic, the volcano has opened the eyes of many in the rest of the world to the fact that Iceland still exists.

“Iceland? Weird, I thought that place disappeared half a century ago. That’s, like, west of Canada, right?” Muhammad Mahfouz of Cairo, Egypt said. “I bet they would be a lot better off if they lived in a place that people actually knew about.”

Mahfouz’s confusion is shared by many outside of Egypt as well. Even major news networks such as CNN and Fox News fumbled to locate Iceland on a map.

“Are you sure you don’t mean Denmark?” asked Shepard Smith, Fox News correspondent, as the news of the volcano was breaking.

Irene Steinberg, a Toronto, Canada resident, said, “I thought Iceland was a prisoner island, like Australia used to be; or some kind of mythical colony thing where they still have dragons and stuff. But it’s its own independent nation? Strange.”

While Iceland's people, economy and environment may be somewhat devastated from the eruption, many are looking at the bright side.

“I feel like it legitimizes us to a certain degree, to have this many people paying attention to us. Before, people probably didn’t even know for sure if we were a country or not,” Icelander Mark Reyjavic said.