Facts about Iceland

*Iceland consumes more Coke than any other nation.
*Icelandic phone books are listed by given name rather than surname.
*Icelanders are able to trace your ancestors back more than 1,000 years.
*Iceland is often called the "Land of Ice and Fire" because glaciers lie next to steaming hot springs and geysers.
*Iceland is number 9 on the list of the most educated nations in the world.
*Iceland is the 8th richest country in the world.
*Iceland is the 4th happiest country in the world.
*Church attendance is under 25% of the total population.
*Iceland is the world’s oldest democracy. Its parliament (Althingi) was founded about 1,000 years ago.
*Icelanders rank near the top of world nations in the per capita rate of connection to the Internet.
*Iceland has no army, navy, or air force. It does have a Coast Guard.
*The English word geyser comes from Icelandic (perhaps the only Icelandic word imported into English). Geysir is the name of a famous geyser in Iceland (which, sadly, no longer erupts).
*Icelandic women don’t take the husband’s name when they marry, chiefly because the husband doesn’t have a family name to take.
*During a recent survey, Icelanders ranked the highest of all European countries in expressing general satisfaction with their lives
*Winter nights and summer days are long. On December 21 in the capital, the sun rises at 11:30 a.m. and sets at 3:30 p.m. On June 21 the sun sets about midnight and rises at 3:00 a.m.
*Iceland has more writers and artists per capita than any other country on earth.
*Icelanders' belief that they are a nation of strong, beautiful and intelligent people (of course)
*Next to their cars and electronic gadgetry, their credit rating is the closest thing to the Icelanders' heart. So true
*The essence of Icelandic conversation is the insult. Icelanders are born with a talent for it and use it with ease from an early age. Because of their farming and fishing ancestry the most telling jibes involve sheep and fish. It is a very serious matter to refer to someone as a sheep or a codhead. Have I ever done this!!!!!
*Being new to the concept of town-dwelling, the Icelanders still find its rules difficult. If you have been used to riding into the nearest village and hitching your horse to a rail outside the shop you want to visit, you expect to do the same with your car. This is so very true
*Iceland has Europe’s largest glacier - Vatnajökul - 3,300 square miles
*Hope you have learnt some more about Iceland and Icelanders