21 Things You Didn’t Know About Iceland

Iceland has been by far my favorite country I’ve visited and it’s the country I get the most questions about. So I thought it would be fun to give all you wonders some fun fact about this amazing piece of gem I explored earlier this year called Iceland.

~No one has a last name! Which then becomes a problem with passport, so they usually end up using the mother or father’s first name as a last name.

~Iceland actually means Island in Icelandic.

~It’s the only country in the world that doesn’t have mosquitoes! (lucky them)

~Iceland has the lowest crime rate in the entire world and people often times make fun of their police department because they don’t really have much to do.

~Icelanders believe in Elves also known as Huldufólk! Yes! I’m serious! Most Icelanders really do believe in Elves and believe they live under rocks. According to these Icelandic folk beliefs, one should never throw stones because of the possibility of hitting an elf.

~They love eating Shark and of course, Whale soup!

~Because Iceland is on the higher part of the equator, it also lacks sunlight. While visiting Iceland in January there was only sunlight from 11am-4:30pm! Imagine how crazy it was to wake-up in the morning brush your teeth, take a shower, eat breakfast and be ready to start your day in complete darkness.

~Iceland is not all Ice! In fact funny enough, most people don’t know this, but Iceland is a pretty green country, on the other hand, Greenland, which is only a short flight from Iceland is mostly all Ice! So the names are actually flipped, although don’t get me wrong it gets VERY cold there and there are glaciers.

~The only way to get to Greenland, is by flying from Iceland!

~English is widely spoken and understood, but the locals speak Icelandic.

~Iceland schooling and education are from age 6-16. If one decides they want to keep studying and go to college, then they would study from 18-20 and the government pays for it.

~There summer season is during June, July and August, but it normally gets up to 57’F/12’C.

~Iceland used to be the most expensive country in the world! Up until they had their economic crisis, which still isn’t a cheap country to visit. It’s the most expensive country I’ve ever been to and is much more expensive than London! For a small coffee and a plane bagel with butter, I paid about $14.

~Iceland has one of the lowest population in the world for religion and most Icelanders are atheist. Although there are a good amount of churches throughout the country.

~The entire countries population is a little under 325,000! Most of the population live in the capital, Reykjavík 120,000.

~Iceland is one of the top places in the world to see The Northern Lights! (Find out more about my experiences seeing the Northern Lights: Chasing The Northern Lights – Iceland)

~South Korea and Cuba are the same size as Iceland.

~The Blue Lagoon was a man made accident that ended up turning into the most famous tourist spot in all of Iceland. The Blue Lagoon was definitely my favorite attraction in Iceland. (Check out my experience at the Blue Lagoon: The Incredible Blue Lagoon Experience)

~Iceland has won 4 Miss World Beauty Contest and 8 strongest man competition in the world. Which kinda makes them the most beautiful and strongest of people 😉

~Iceland has one of the most beautiful horses in the world, the Icelandic horse, that can stand all weather conditions.

~Iceland is my FAVORITE country in the world!

For more on why I loved Iceland so much read: Iceland, The Place Where Dreams Are Made!