7 interesting facts about Iceland that you did not know about

For many, Iceland is a deserted island state, lost somewhere in the northern latitudes, a kingdom of ice and silence. It is unlikely that any other country can compete with Iceland in the degree of remoteness from the global centers of civilization. However, this does not mean that life stands still. No, it is in full swing and in some ways even more interesting than on the mainland.

Weather

The word Ísland translates as "land of ice", which alludes to the harsh Arctic climate. However, in fact, it is moderately cool, with strong winds, humid and very changeable. The Icelandic proverb says: "If you do not like the weather, wait five minutes and it will get worse." The average temperature here does not fall below −4 ° C even in winter, and in the warmest months - July and August - it can reach +20 ° C.

Nature

The local nature is so unusual. Iceland boasts many wonders, the description of which begins with the word "most." Iceland is the largest island of volcanic origin, here is the largest glacier (Vatnajokull) and the most powerful waterfall (Dettifoss) in Europe. At the same time, Iceland is practically devoid of forests, they occupy only about 1% of the entire island. But in the rivers of the country is so clean water that it is fed into houses without any preliminary treatment or filtration.

Population

Iceland is inhabited by about 330 thousand people, 80 thousand horses, 460 thousand sheep and 4 million puffins. If anyone does not know, a dead end is such a funny sea bird, which is a kind of symbol of Iceland.

On the streets you will not meet a large number of foreigners or people of different races. The state pursues such a strict migration policy that it is almost impossible to obtain a permanent residence here. Therefore, the ethnic composition is extremely homogeneous: 98.99% are Icelanders, descendants of the Vikings who speak Icelandic. The life expectancy of Icelanders is one of the highest in the world: 81.3 years for women and 76.4 for men.

Almost no one in Iceland has a family name. People here have a name and patronymic formed on behalf of the father or mother. This is enough to identify each resident of the country. For example, the name of the Icelandic singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir literally means “Björk, daughter of Goodmund,” and the name of the head of the Icelandic government, Johanna Sigurðardóttir, can be deciphered as “Johanna,”

Language

In Iceland, they are very jealous of the purity of the language and do not let borrowed words into it. Therefore, over the past 1,000 years, the Icelandic language has not changed much.

There is a special language commission in the country, which is engaged in protection against foreign influence. When any foreign concept or definition comes into use in Iceland, the commission comes up with or finds a local equivalent for it.

Policy

The president is considered the head of state, but he does not have too many powers. Therefore, no one wants to work as president in Iceland, and уlafur Ragnar Grimsson has to serve his fifth term in office. And twice, he simply automatically remained in his place due to the lack of other candidates.

But the parliament of Iceland (althing) is considered the oldest of the existing in the world. Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland, is the first head of government in world history to enter into an official same-sex marriage.

Another interesting political fact is that in the summer of 2009, Iceland applied for EU membership, and on March 12, 2014, it was withdrawn. Change your mind.

Army and police

Crime in Iceland is almost zero. The policemen here do not carry weapons, and in general they are few. There are no regular armed forces. Therefore, government defense spending is symbolic, and this money is spent mainly on the coast guard - the only structure where men can play with weapons.

According to Forbes magazine, Iceland ranks first in the world in terms of peace (2011).

Energetics

According to statistics from various international organizations, Iceland regularly takes leading places in the ten most favorable countries for living in the world.