A rural district in Iceland was forced to convene for the naming of a volcano, which began erupting last year. Claiming a population of only 371, the tiny town of Skútustaðahreppur decided to officially stick with the name "Holuhraun," which was what the lava field had been called during the time that it technically did not have a name:
The council had four proposed names for the site, which were: Flæðahraun, Holuhraun, Nornahraun, and Urðarbruni.In the final decision, two councilors voted for the name Holuhraun, one councilor voted for Nornahraun and one voted for Urðarbruni. The fifth council member left the meeting and did not vote. […] It might sound vaguely silly for a committee to officially name geographic features which clearly already have a name — but in Iceland the land is in constant flux and it is important for brand new features to have officially recognized names. In this case, it is fortunate that the new official name is the same as the old unofficial one. [Iceland Review]
The next task of the people of Skútustaðahreppur: Naming all the new natural features formed by Holuhraun's eruption.
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