Selfoss is the name of a city and a waterfall in Iceland.
The city Selfoss
The city lies in the south of Iceland on the banks of Ölfusá river The Ring Road (Icelandic: Hringvegur) runs through the town on its way between Hveragerði and Hella. It is a center of commerce and small industries of about 4500 inhabitants. Selfoss started forming in late 19th century when the first suspension bridge was built on Ölfusá and made the site a logical place for a service center for the agricultural region of south Iceland. Today, with more efficient transportation, the town enjoys the proximity to the Reykjavík area and is predicted to grow in coming years as businesses and residents will relocate to it because of lower property prices.
The river Jökulsá á Fjöllum in the north of Iceland drops over some waterfalls about 30 km before flowing into the Arctic sea.
Behind the Selfoss (11 m high), there follows Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall of Europe. The river comes down from the glacierVatnajökull and therefore the water input is different depending on the season, the weather and volcanic activity. The water falls down 44 m over a width of 100m. Afterwards, the river passes through a gorge which is part of the Jökulsárgljúfur National Park.
The town Selfoss started developing in 1891, when a suspension bridge was built across the most voluminous river in Iceland, Olfusa.
This bridge collapsed in 1944 and a new one was constructed immediately.
Selfoss, sometimes referred to as the capital of the South, received its municipal rights in 1978 and the inhabitants base their livelihood on services rendered to the agricultural surroundings, small industries, commerce and tourism.
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