7 interesting facts about Iceland

Knowledge is power. A layfhakeru knowledge is needed twice. In this series of articles we collect for you fascinating and sometimes surprising facts about the world around us. We hope that they will show you not only interesting but also practically useful.

For many of Iceland - is lost somewhere in the northern latitudes deserted island nation, the kingdom of ice and silence. Hardly any other country can compete with Iceland on the degree of remoteness from the centers of world civilization. However, this does not mean that life is frozen in place. No, she was in full boil and something what is even more interesting than on the mainland.

Weather

Ísland word translated as "land of ice", which hints at the harsh Arctic climate. However, in reality it is a moderately cool, windy, wet and very changeable. Icelandic proverb says: "If you do not like the weather, wait five minutes, and will be even worse." The average temperature even in winter here does not fall below -4 ° C, while in the warmest months - July and August - can be up to +20 ° C.

Nature

Local nature is so unusual that Iceland boasts many curiosities, the description of which starts with the word "most". Iceland - the largest island of volcanic origin, there is the largest glacier (Vatnajökull), and the most powerful waterfall (Dettifoss) in Europe. At the same time, Iceland is almost devoid of forests, they occupy only about 1% of the total area of ​​the island. But in the rivers of the country as clean water, it is fed into the house without any pre-treatment or filtration.

Population

Iceland is inhabited by about 330 thousand people, 80 thousand horses, 460 000 sheep and 4 million puffins. If someone does not know a dead end - it is such a fun sea bird that is a symbol of Iceland.

On the streets you will not find here a large number of foreigners or people of different races. The state spends so tough immigration policies that come here for permanent residence is almost impossible. Therefore, the national composition of extremely homogeneous: 98.99% are Icelanders - the descendants of Vikings who speak Icelandic. The life expectancy of Icelanders - one of the highest in the world: 81.3 years for women and 76.4 - for men.

Almost no one in Iceland no names. People here have a name and surname, derived from the name of the father or mother. It is enough to identify each inhabitant of the country. For example, the name of the Icelandic singer Bjork Gudmundsdóttir (Björk Guðmundsdóttir) literally means "Bjork daughter of Gudmund" and the name of the Prime Minister of Iceland Johanna Sigurdardottir (Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir) can be deciphered as "Johanna, daughter Sigurd. "

Tongue

Iceland is very jealous of the purity of their language and not let loan words in it. Therefore, over the past 1000 years, Icelandic remained virtually unchanged.

In the country there is a special linguistic commission, which deals with protection against foreign influence. When in Iceland is part of everyday life of any foreign concept or definition, the Commission comes up or is it local equivalent.

Politics

The President believes the president, which, however, does not have too much power. Therefore, the president of Iceland to work and no one wants to have to Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson) to serve a fifth term in office. And twice, he just automatically remain in place due to the absence of other candidates.

But the Icelandic Parliament (Althing) is considered the oldest existing in the world. Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland - the first head of government in world history, which entered the official same-sex marriage.

From entertaining political facts can be identified more that summer of 2009, Iceland applied for membership in the EU, and March 12, 2014 it withdrew. They changed their minds.

The army and police

Crime in Iceland is almost zero. The police here do not carry weapons, and in general they are few. Regular armed forces are absent. Therefore, government spending on defense symbolic, and this money is spent mainly on the coast guard - a unique structure, where men can play with guns.

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

energetics

A large number of eruptions and geothermal energy Icelandic made virtually independent of oil and gas. Approximately 85% of the energy in Iceland is produced from renewable resources, more than half of energy - geothermal. The vast majority of Icelandic homes do not need artificial heating, and use the heat of the nearby natural hot springs.

According to statistics from various international organizations, Iceland regularly occupies a leading place in the top ten most favorable countries to live in peace.