Katla is one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal

Vík í Mýrdal

The village of Vík is the southernmost village in Iceland, located on the main ring road around the island, around by road SSE of Reykjavík....

 and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull

Eyjafjallajökull

Eyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in...

. Its peak reaches 1512 metres (4,961 ft) in height and is partially covered by the Mýrdalsjökull

Mýrdalsjökull

Mýrdalsjökull mire dale glacier" or " mire valley glacier") is a glacier in the south of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Vík í Mýrdal and to the east of the smaller glacier Eyjafjallajökull. Between these two glaciers is Fimmvörðuháls pass. Its peak reaches in height and in 1980 it covered...

 glacier. The Eldgjá

Eldgjá

Eldgjá is a volcanic canyon in Iceland. Eldgjá and the Katla volcano are part of the same volcanic system in the south of the country. Eldgjá means "fire canyon" in Icelandic....

 canyon is part of the same volcanic system. The caldera

Caldera

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...

 is 10 km (6 mi) diameter and is covered with 200–700 metres (660-2,300 ft) of ice.

Twenty eruptions have been documented between 930 and 1918 at intervals of 13-95 years.