Iceland Fun Facts

Iceland is SUNNY in the summer! Due to the tilt of the earth's axis, the sun shines almost directly on the upper part of the planet, causing 20 hours of sunlight in summer.


11% of Iceland is covered by glaciers. Vatnajokull is Iceland's largest glacier.


In Iceland, they use the traditional way of their people to create surnames; they take their father's first name and place 'son' or 'dottir' after the name. Women in Iceland keep their maiden names when they get married.


The most popular sport in Iceland is outdoor swimming in geothermally heated pools - in any weather!




March first is Beer Day every year in Iceland. That's right, a whole day dedicated to the world's favorite beverage. This celebrated event began on March 1st, 1989, when a 75-year-long prohibition of beer was lifted. Pubs, restaurants, and clubs all around Reykjavik are especially wild this night.


Two days before Lent is known as Bolludagur or "Buns Day." Homes, restaurants and particular bakeries, overflow with delicately made cream puffs or "buns." These "buns" come in all different shapes and sizes, filled with cream, jam, and sometimes drizzled in chocolate.


Children especially love Buns Day because they get to wake up early and try to catch their parents still in bed. If they do, they "beat" them out of bed with their individually made Bolluvondur or "Bun Wands," which are colorfully decorated with strips of paper and gleaming ribbon. The parents are then obligated to give their children one cream puff for every "blow" received.

Wow! Makes one think twice about "Spare the rod, spoil the child".

Thanks Iceland, it's been swell!

Next we will move on to learn about Sri Lanka!

Visiting Iceland

As our visiting Icelandic artist pointed out, Iceland also enjoys an economic boost from tourism.

If you decide to go to Reykjavik:

the largest city in Iceland, you can grab a drink at an ice bar. Yes, a bar made of ice.


Actually, I was surprised to learn that the climate in Iceland is simliar to that in my home of Minneapolis, MN. Actually, Minneapolis gets colder in the winter than Iceland!

Minneapolis:

So I guess you will not have to pack for the worst cold ever.

You can plan to:

Whale watch.

and other outdoorsy things like hiking and puffin watching.

Or you can visit some amazing churches with impressive architecture:

The National Church of Iceland is a Christian denomination that most Icelandic people belong to, though there are smatterings of Catholics and other Christian denominations and beyond.

Of course there are arts activities too:

Guess what they already have in Iceland????

Hydrogen Fuel Vehicles!!!!

They were the first country to have a hydrogen fuel station.

I. Am. Jealous.

The entire country is a geothermal playground. The island sits on two major divergent boundaries, the Iceland Hotspot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

There are several active volcanoes in Iceland plus fjords, geysers and hot springs.

Volcano Eldfell in 1973.

Geology is fun! Thanks Layne Kennedy

They use geothermal power in Iceland too:

Iceland and Money

Iceland is fully a part of Europe and it has a social welfare system modeled after the Scandinaivian countries. The government manages a wide range of benefits for all citizens. Like Scandinavian countries ,there are very high taxes on goods and the incomes of citizens level out after income taxes.

Iceland is not a member of the European Union and does not use the Euro as currency.

The króna is the currency in Iceland.

(króna coins- cute fish!)

100 ISK (króna) is worth about $1.38 in US currency and .87 Euros.

About 7,229.04 ISK will get you this cool painting by Icelander Tinna Eik on Etsy.com:


The Icelandic economy is not as reliant on visual artists and musicians as it is on the fishing industry. Seventy percent of their exports are fish.

Check out those economics!

Manufacturing medical supplies, Aluminum Smelting and Textiles are also important exports from Iceland. But they are not nearly as delicious as fish:

Belated Geography RESURRECTION!!!!!

Ok, I have shamefully procrastinated on this blog. It is pretty pathetic, but it is true. The sad thing is I love the concept of this blog and the opportunity to open myself to learning about the world and sharing with you too.

So, with that in mind I am going to resurrect this blog with a new format. I am going to have one country a week and I am going to pst a little each day, rather than one LONG entry.


Here's hopin' I can live up to this task!

And here's the beginning of Iceland:

Of course you all know their most famous citizen:

Beloved Modernist Poet Steinn Steinarr!!!

October 13, 1908 - May 25, 1958

His best known work is Time and the Water, of which the following is the first part.

Tíminn er eins og vatnið, og vatnið er kalt og djúpt eins og vitund mín sjálfs. Og tíminn er eins og mynd, sem er máluð af vatninu og mér til hálfs. Og tíminn og vatnið renna veglaust til þurrðar inn í vitund mín sjálfs. (Quoted from ljod.is)

Time is like the water, and the water is cold and deep like my own consciousness. And time is like a picture, which is painted of water, half of it by me. And time and the water flow trackless to extinction into my own consciousness. (Translation by Marshall Brement)

(Stolen from wikipedia)

Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Europe. The country is slightly smaller than the state of Kentucky (Where education pays!).

As of July 2007 the population was around 309,00. Of course that includes the current LIVING most famous Icelander:


Other living Icelandic musicians include Emiliana Torrini and Sigur Ros:

While I enjoy both acts, Bjork is clearly the most famous because she has the most diverse images on the interweb and the most scandalous youtube video.

The country is constitutional republic where Icelandic is the native language but English, Nordic languages and German are widely spoken.

Their President is Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and the Prime Minister is Geir H. Haarde.

(Grimsson)

This is the house of the executive branch of the government:

This design makes it clear where Bjork gets her flamboyant taste.

Oh tell me what is next!

Bjork and I are so excited to tell you that next I will be research her homeland of:





I will try to get this post up faster than the last once, and if you complain once more you'll meet an army of me!