FUN AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ICELAND

Iceland’s placement on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates causes its environment to be geologically young. Consequently, the island has a high level of geological and volcanic activity.
The northernmost point of Iceland, which is between 63 and 66 degrees north latitude, just misses the Arctic Circle, which runs past the island of Grimsey off the north coast.
Despite being in the north, where the sun doesn’t rise very high in the sky, Reykjavik has an average annual temperature of 4.3 C, with an average January temperature of around 0 C. The climate is mild and temperatures are relatively high. In the North and Interior, the temperature is generally lower. Iceland is quite close to the edge of the livable world. The relative mildness of its climate is a result of a warm current, the Gulf Stream bathing its coast. Without it, Iceland would be uninhabitable.
Icecap mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, and ancient, cooled lava flows are just a few of Iceland’s unusual natural attractions. Its landscape is made up of 63% wasteland, 3% lakes, 11% ice caps and glaciers, and 23% vegetation.
Around 200 volcanoes, 30 of which are active, can be found in Iceland, along with a third of the planet’s lava flows. Glaciers or cooled lava beds cover 10% of the total land area.
Icelandic, the country’s official language, has not seen much change throughout the years. It was first spoken in the ninth century and has had relatively little change since then. It is a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse with minor Celtic influences. This means that Icelanders can still read and comprehend ancient texts, including their famed Sagas.
Iceland has a population of roughly 372,000 people living over an area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi) and is the least populated country in Europe. The greater Reykjavik area is home to two-thirds of its population.
After Great Britain, Iceland is the second-biggest island in Europe and the 18th-largest island in the globe. Portugal or US State of Kentucky are comparable in size.
It is believed that Irish monks were the first to arrive in Iceland around the year 800 AD. Norsemen landed in Iceland around the ninth century. Icelanders’ 60% Scandinavian and 40% Irish genomes were recently uncovered, with the Irish women who were brought there as slaves considered to have affected the latter.
Reykjavik, the most northern capital city, serves as Iceland’s capital.
In 1262, Iceland was incorporated into Norway. It was a part of Denmark for 400 years before gaining independence in 1918 and becoming a full republic in 1944.
Iceland was the first nation to elect a female president in 1980. Up until 1996, Vigds Finnbogadóttir served as president.
Iceland uses the Icelandic króna as its official currency.
Iceland uses geothermal and hydroelectric energy for about 85% of its electrical and heating needs.
The sole native mammal of Iceland is the Arctic fox.
Iceland publishes the most books and magazines per person, and 10% of the people there will produce a book throughout their lifetimes. One of the favorite sayings among their highly educated inhabitants is “It’s better to be barefoot than bookless”.
Haldor Laxness, an Icelander, is a Nobel Prize recipient in literature. His best-known work, Independent People, offers a glimpse into Icelandic personalities and the unbelievable story of their survival in brutal circumstances.
The world’s first novels have frequently been referred to as the Icelandic Sagas, which were composed during their Golden Age in the late 12th and late 13th centuries.
Some Icelanders continue to hold onto their belief in trolls, elves, and other fantastical creatures.
The three colors on Iceland’s flag stand for various components of the island. The island’s volcanic fires are represented by red. Blue represents the ocean, while white denotes the snow and ice fields.
There are just about 100 Jews in Iceland, however, they recently had a First Lady who was Jewish.
The majority of Icelanders don’t use surnames like Johnson, Smith, etc. Instead, children are given a name before receiving the father’s name plus a son or daughter.
So, Jon has a daughter named Hafdis Jonsdottir and a son named Thor Jonsson. Bjarni Thorsson, a son, and Frida Thorsdottir, a daughter, are the children of Thor Jonsson. As a result, even though Hafdis Jonsdottir marries, she won’t take her husband’s name; instead, her children will carry the name of their father.
Now – Icelanders are listed in the phone book alphabetically by first name because they don’t have surnames.
Calling an Icelander Mr. or Ms. is inappropriate because they don’t have last names. Almost everyone in Iceland uses their first name, including the president of Iceland.
The Icelandic Naming Committee must authorize any first names that have not been used in Iceland before.
Before you bump into bed, bump into the app. Since everyone in Iceland is related to everyone else, a new app called “IslendingaApp SES” has been developed so users can simply “bump” their phones to see if they are too related to advance their relationship. Adorably funny, right?
Iceland does not have an army, navy, or air force, and there is hardly any crime. There is a Coast Guard present.
The majority of the 600 to 700 persons that are saved each year from Iceland’s harsh landscape are tourists. They underestimate the geography and rapidly changing weather of the Arctic nation since they are mesmerized by its beauty. Five campers known as “the Glacial Picnickers” had to be saved in 2013 after the iceberg they had chosen for their ideal lunch spot was driven out to sea by a strong wind. Rescuers are members of ICE-SAR, the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue. Neither the Icelandic military nor any local police agency employs ICE-SAR. People who work for ICE-SAR are all volunteers, and the organization is also self-funded. In 1918, the women and daughters of the Westman Islands, an archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland, became weary of losing their sailor husbands and dads to the sea. This is when ICE-SAR was founded. They started planning and coordinating rescue operations and formed the first rescue squad.
Another interesting topic is Iceland’s unique way of dealing with the financial crisis which was the most severe. During the bubble, Iceland’s three biggest banks grew to 10 times the size of their economy by offering people overseas, especially in the Netherlands and Britain, higher interest rates than they could get at home. It was a time when fishermen became traders and bankers. After the crisis hit in 2008, Iceland let its banks fail and their currency collapse, bailing out their people instead of their banks, as opposed to other countries. By paying off loans for consumers, forgiving homeowner debt (up to 110% of the property value), and throwing the offenders in prison, Iceland was able to bounce back much quicker and has become a success story. And some of those bankers are still in jail. When Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was asked whether or not other countries – Europe in particular – would succeed with Iceland’s “let the banks fail” policy, he stated the following: “Why are the banks considered to be the holy churches of the modern economy? Why are private banks not like airlines and telecommunication companies and allowed to go bankrupt if they have been run irresponsibly? The theory that you have to bail out banks is a theory that allows bankers to enjoy their profit and their success, and then let ordinary people bear their failure through taxes and austerity. People in enlightened democracies are not going to accept that in the long run.” Grimmson’s “famous” reply to the controversial question, “What is the reason for Iceland’s recovery?” is the most remarkable: “We were wise enough not to follow the traditional prevailing orthodoxies of the Western financial world in the last 30 years. We introduced currency controls, we let the banks fail, we provided support for the poor, and we didn’t introduce austerity measures like you’re seeing in Europe.” Icelanders are smart and tough !!!