Keflavík International Airport in the context of Southern Peninsula (Iceland)

The Icelandic Coast Guard (Icelandic: Landhelgisgæsla Íslands, Landhelgisgæslan or simply Gæslan) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, national defense, and law enforcement. The nautical division is based at the port of Reykjavík, as well as a smaller base at Siglufjörður. Its aeronautical division is based at Reykjavík Airport.

The Coast Guard is also responsible for the NATO area at Keflavík Airport and the Iceland Air Defence System, which conducts ground-based surveillance of Iceland's air space. It is also conducts hydrographic surveys and nautical charting.

Southern Peninsula (Icelandic: Suðurnes, pronounced [ˈsʏːðʏrˌnɛːs] ) is an administrative unit and part of Reykjanesskagi (pronounced [ˈreiːcaˌnɛsˌskaijɪ]), or Reykjanes Peninsula, a region in southwest Iceland. It was named after Reykjanes, the southwestern tip of Reykjanesskagi.

The region has a population of 30,933 (2024) and is one of the more densely populated parts of the island. The administrative centre is Keflavík, which had 7,000 residents when it merged with the nearby town of Njarðvík and Hafnir in 1995 to create Reykjanesbær, which is the largest settlement outside the Greater Reykjavík area; in 2018, the region had a population of 17,805. The region is the location of Keflavík International Airport, the major point of entry for Iceland. Some fishing towns, such as Grindavík, Njarðvík and Sandgerði, are situated on the peninsula.

Keflavík (pronounced [ˈcʰɛplaˌviːk] , meaning Driftwood Bay) is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129.

In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njarðvík and Hafnir to form the municipality of Reykjanesbær. Keflavík International Airport, the country's largest airport (serving nearby Reykjavík) is adjacent to the town.

Eldvörp–Svartsengi (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈɛltˌvœr̥p–ˈsvar̥(t)sˌeiɲcɪ]); "fire cones–black meadow" in Icelandic also Svartsengi volcanic system) is a volcanic system in the southwest of Iceland on the Southern Peninsula, southeast of Keflavík International Airport and north of the town of Grindavík. Made up of fissures, cones and volcanic craters, it had been relatively inactive for several centuries until 2020, when the first in a series of magmatic intrusions occurred. In December 2023 the fourth such intrusion culminated in an eruption, with further eruptions in 2024 and 2025.