Island in a Nutshell

Iceland is the most remote country among its five other siblings — the Nordic Countries. It is located in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Iceland is the most rarely populated country in Europe as well. Iceland has many fascinating features that can be worth telling about.

The capital and the cultural center of Iceland is Reykjavik, but it is not the only one interesting place on this blissfully remote island — Iceland has really unusual geography — is full of astonishing glaciers and hot springs.

Around two million tourists visit Iceland annually, however, just around 357 000 people live on the island permanently. Although, the island isn’t densely populated it is geographically ranked as the world’s 18th-largest island.

When it comes to the etymology of the name of the island it turns out that Iceland was named like that on purpose. The sagas of Icelands say that a Norvegian Norsemen named Naddador reached the island in the 9th century for the first time and named it Snowland because it was snowing at the time.

A few years later Swedish Viking named Gardar Svarsson discovered that the new land was actually an island. He also climbed one of the numerous Iceland mountains and saw many glaciers on its other side, after that the island got its permanent name — Iceland.

However, the new name turned out to be really practical as well, because it made all other people believe that the island was just a myth. Which prevented the overpopulation of Iceland and made Norsemen the only settlers on it.

Generally speaking, the climate of Iceland is subarctic, but temperatures vary in different parts of the island. The south coast is warmer, wetter, and windier than the north. Most of the cities, including the capital, Reykjavik, are all located on the south coast. When it comes to local animals, back in the bygone era the only native land mammal was Arctic Fox, all other animals have been brought later by Europeans.

People in Iceland speak Icelandic, which is a North Germanic language that descended from Old Norse. Icelandic sign language has been officially registered as one of the minority languages in 2011. When it comes to school — English and Danish are compulsory subjects at school (such as English and Swedish in Finland).

Iceland is best known for its sagas and eddas that were written during the Middle Age. Reykjavik has been even nominated for the title “City of Literature” by UNESCO in 2011.

According to research, 66% of Icelanders were satisfied with their life, which makes Iceland the 4th most happy county in the world.