Things you might not know about Iceland

If you’re coming to Iceland for a vacation, you’ve probably already heard a few things about some of its greatest attractions.

You’ll know that Iceland is ideal for whale watching in the summer and for spotting the Northern Lights in the winter.

And you’ll have read about how close you can get to glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes, Icelandic horses, and puffins and how you can relax in gorgeous geothermal spas all around the country.

But there’s much more to the “Land of Fire and Ice” than these famous Icelandic highlights.

For a country that’s only been inhabited for 1150 years and not even 500 kilometers wide, it’s packed with fascinating facts and features.

Things you might not know about Iceland’s geography

1. Iceland is thought to be about 16-18 million years old, formed by underwater volcanoes rising up along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. That means there are no dinosaur fossils in Iceland!

2. Straddling the continental rift where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are pulling apart, Iceland is growing by about two centimeters a year.

3. Since 1500 AD, a third of the Earth’s total lava flow has been in Iceland, with molten magma piping up from the Earth’s burning core underneath Iceland’s surface.

4. Iceland is the second largest island in Europe and the 18th globally, covering 103,000 square kilometers - about the same size as Kentucky and a little bigger than Portugal.

5. More than 10,000 waterfalls cascade from glaciers and mountains around the country.

6. There are more than 30 minor islands, including Grímsey, which crosses the Arctic Circle in the north and the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago in the south.

7. There are 269 named glaciers in Iceland, covering over a tenth of Iceland’s landmass. However, this is rapidly reducing because of climate change.

8. Iceland has over 30 active volcanic systems and at least 130 volcanoes, with lava fields covering 25% of the country.

9. Only 23% of Iceland is vegetated, and 1.2% is considered arable land. 25% of the country is considered habitable.

10. Just 2% of Iceland is forested, which is slowly increasing. It used to be 40%, but the early settlers chopped down almost all of Iceland’s trees before they realized how long they take to grow in Iceland’s chilly climate.

11. Jökulsárlón is Iceland’s deepest lake, measured at 284 meters. It’s also one of the newest - it only began forming around 1948.

12. If you find yourself on the South Coast, heading directly south, there’s no land between there and the Antarctic!

Things you might not know about Iceland’s history

1. Iceland was the last European country to be settled, with the first people arriving in the late 9th century, around 874 AD.

2. The Alþingi is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world, founded in 930 AD at Þingvellir.

3. The early Icelanders built little rock cairns called steinvarða to mark a successful journey across its rugged landscapes. This led to much larger cairns being used as waypoints to guide travelers.

4. If you lived in Iceland before 1976 and wanted to buy milk, you had to go to special “milk shops” which held a dairy product monopoly.

5. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became Iceland’s fourth President in 1980, making her the world’s first elected female head of state.

6. Until 1983, Icelandic TV did not broadcast in July, and Thursdays were entirely TV-free all year until 1987.

7. Beer was banned in Iceland for over 70 years, from 1915 until 1989. Bjórdagurinn (Beer Day) celebrates the end of prohibition, an excellent excuse to go to the pub. Skál!

8. Dogs were banned in the capital from 1987 until 2007 to control the canine population and limit the spread of disease.

9. When Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was elected Iceland’s first female Prime Minister in 2009, she became the world’s first openly LGBT head of government.

Things you may not know about Iceland’s wildlife

1. There are more sheep than people in Iceland, with fewer than 380,000 citizens compared to more than 400,000 sheep.

2. The Arctic Fox is the only native land mammal in Iceland. It first arrived at the end of the last Ice Age when it was connected to Greenland by ice bridges and floes. Arctic Foxes are perfectly adapted to Iceland’s winter conditions, with the best insulating fur of any animal in the world.

3. Icelandic horses have a unique extra gait, adding the tölt to the usual walk, trot, canter, and gallop, offering a smooth ride over the rugged landscapes. One of the oldest purebred horses in the world and the backbone of traditional Icelandic communities, they do very well in international equestrian competitions. Once a horse leaves the country, it is not allowed to return to prevent diseases or contamination.

4. There are no mosquitoes in Iceland, but there are plenty of midges instead! You might need a head net in the summer months around Lake Mývatn (Midge Lake) in North Iceland.

5. The seas around Iceland are home to as many as 23 different species of whales. It’s estimated that 350,000 cetaceans visit these waters annually, making Iceland an excellent place for whale watching.

6. Iceland is also rich in birdlife, with over a hundred bird species regularly migrating here yearly. The Atlantic Puffin is probably the most famous and popular visitor, with as many as a million birds in the largest colony in the world at Vestmannaeyjar.

7. Wild herds of reindeer enjoy the peace and solitude of the Eastfjords, with as many as six thousand of these hardy mammals found across the region. Originally brought here from Norway in the 18th century, the reindeer eventually chose the East as their preferred patch.

8. Iceland’s Eider ducks produce about 75% of the world’s supply of eiderdown, the insulating material that keeps astronauts warm in space and the rest of us warm in our beds.

9. Iceland is carpeted by velvet-green mosses, decorating the country’s lava fields, mountains and hills. It’s very slow-growing and susceptible to trampling, so please try to avoid stepping on the moss while exploring. But “Icelandic moss” is actually a lichen (Cetraria islandica), a combination of fungi, bacteria, and green algae!

Things you might not know about Iceland’s culture

1. Iceland’s flag reflects the elements that dominate here - blue for the sky, red for fire and lava, and white for snow and ice. It’s illegal to fly the Icelandic flag after dark!

2. A surprisingly high percentage of Icelanders still believe in elves and the huldufólk (hidden people). As recently as 2007, more than 60% of Icelanders confirmed their belief in these magical creatures living alongside humans in enchanted rocks and cliffs, even rerouting road projects away from “elf churches.”

3. Icelanders love literature, with the highest number of bookstores and the most books sold per capita than anywhere else on Earth. This peaks with the Jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, when books are bought as Christmas presents. One in ten Icelanders will publish a book, following a rich literary tradition that dates back to the famous Icelandic Sagas.

4. The Icelandic language (Íslensku) is one of the world’s oldest languages, and it’s remained relatively unchanged since the Viking Age. That means modern-day Icelanders can read their medieval manuscripts more easily than English-speaking people can read Shakespeare!

5. Instead of a Father Christmas, Icelanders have 13 Santas, the Yule Lads, who descend from the mountains in December. They used to be considered troublemakers, rattling pots and pans, knocking on doors, and stealing food and milk. Nowadays, the Yule Lads bring gifts for well-behaved Icelandic children!

6. The Icelandic alphabet contains 32 letters. All of the English letters are included, except C, Z, Q, and W, and á, æ, ð, é, í, ó, ö, þ, ú, and ý are added.

7. Icelanders use a patronymic naming system, where the father’s name becomes the child’s surname, with “sson” or “dottir” added. Occasionally, the mother’s name is used instead. There is also a “Naming Committee” which makes rulings on new names - unusual names are not allowed here!

Things you might not know about Iceland today

1. Iceland is the only NATO member without a standing army.

2. Iceland is a global leader in sustainable energy, with almost all its power needs generated from renewable sources. More than 90% of Icelandic homes are heated by geothermal energy, with 31 “cold areas” powered by hydro-electric energy.

3. There are no trains in Iceland, apart from one tiny engine in the Old Harbor in the capital. The country’s unstable geography makes track laying rather tricky!

4. The 2023 World Happiness Report ranked Iceland as the third happiest country on Earth, just behind Finland and Denmark.

5. Iceland’s population density is just four people per square kilometer, which may explain why the country does so well in the Happiness Report!

6. Iceland has the world’s highest per capita trade union membership.

7. Hollywood films and hit TV shows, including “Game of Thrones,” “Interstellar,” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” have been filmed in Iceland, making use of its varied and dramatic landscapes.

Just a weird thing you might not know…

Húsavík might be the whale watching capital of Iceland, but you wouldn’t think of it as an ideal place for alligators.

But in 2001, the town’s mayor seriously considered importing these giant reptiles as part of an innovative plan to chew through food waste!

The “Krokodil Plan” would use the geothermally superheated water that warms the town’s homes and generates its electricity to keep imported alligators hot and happy while they munched the waste from the town’s fish-packing plants.

The reptiles would also add to Iceland’s tourism draw, jostling with the whales, reindeer, puffins, and Arctic foxes as a sight to see.

Húsavík’s mayor in 2001, Reinhard Reynisson, was inspired by a Colorado fish farm that used geothermal springs to raise alligators to consume their food waste.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there wasn’t much enthusiasm for Reynisson’s unusual initiative, and that was that.

After all, a constant diet of fish guts wouldn’t have made up for less than three hours of daylight in winter for theoretical Icelandic alligators!

Iceland never ceases to amaze, and there’s always something new and intriguing to discover about this extraordinary island nation.