50 Fun Facts About Iceland

Roughly what share of Iceland's population lives within its capital city's limits?

The wider Capital Region holds about 64% of the country's roughly 395,000 people.

Iceland's capital holds what distinction among the capitals of sovereign states?

It sits at 64°08′ N on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay.

The name Reykjavík translates roughly as what?

The 'smoke' was steam rising from the area's hot springs.

According to the Landnámabók, who became Iceland's first permanent settler in 874?

He supposedly threw his high-seat pillars overboard and settled where they washed ashore, at Reykjavík.

Which Norseman gave Iceland its name after climbing a mountain and seeing an ice-filled fjord?

Naddodd had first called it Snæland (Snowland) and Garðar named it Garðarshólmur after himself.

Iceland's parliament, the Althing, was founded in which year, making it one of the oldest in the world?

It met each summer at Þingvellir, where laws were memorised and recited rather than written down.

Iceland's national assembly met at Þingvellir from 930 until which year, when it last sat there?

The site is also a rift valley marking the boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates.

Iceland became a fully independent republic on 17 June of which year, with Denmark occupied?

King Christian X of Denmark still sent a message of congratulations.

Iceland's 'Cod Wars' of the 1950s-70s were fishing disputes with which country?

Iceland won every round, its coast guard using long hawsers to cut the nets of British trawlers.

The final Cod War of 1975-76 followed Iceland extending its fishing zone to how many nautical miles?

The limits crept out from 3 to 4 miles in 1952, then 12, then 50, then 200.

Which two leaders held a 1986 summit at Höfði House in Reykjavík that helped end the Cold War?

The talks collapsed at the last minute over 'a single word', but led to the 1987 INF Treaty.

Reykjavík hosted the 1972 'Match of the Century' in which game?

Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky 12½–8½ to end 24 years of Soviet domination.

In 1980 Iceland made Vigdís Finnbogadóttir head of state, the world's first woman to do what?

She served 16 years, still the longest tenure of any elected female head of state.

Iceland is the only NATO member with no what?

Its Coast Guard handles defence, and the US-run Iceland Defense Force left Keflavík in 2006.

Iceland straddles the boundary between which two tectonic plates?

It is the only large island in the world sitting on a mid-ocean ridge above sea level.

What does the Icelandic verb 'geysa', root of 'geyser', mean?

Geysir now rarely erupts; its neighbour Strokkur goes off every 8-10 minutes.

Which volcano's 2010 eruption grounded air travel across northern and western Europe for a week?

Meltwater getting into the vent made the eruption explosive, sending fine ash into the jet stream.

The 1783 eruption of which volcano triggered a famine that killed a quarter of Icelanders?

Its haze hung over Europe for months and over half of Iceland's livestock died in the 'Mist Hardships'.

Surtsey, an island that rose from the sea off Iceland's south coast in 1963, is named after what?

Only scientists studying how life colonises new land are allowed to set foot on it.

What gives the Blue Lagoon spa's geothermal water its milky-blue colour?

The lagoon is man-made, and bathers rub the white silica mud on their skin.

Roughly what proportion of Iceland's total primary energy comes from domestic renewables?

Geothermal and hydro give it the world's highest electricity output per person.

Iceland is the second-largest island in Europe. Which is the largest?

Iceland is the 18th-largest island in the world.

The Arctic Circle does not cross mainland Iceland, but it does pass through which small Icelandic island?

The main island lies entirely south of the circle, between 63 and 68 degrees north.

Which of these is TRUE of Icelandic surnames?

The phone book lists people by first name, and everyone addresses everyone by first name.

A new given name in Iceland must be approved by which body?

It once refused to register a girl called Blær because the word was a masculine noun; a court overruled it in 2013.

Icelandic is the only living language to still use which runic letter in its Latin alphabet?

The 'thorn' letter, pronounced like the 'th' in 'thing', appears in Þingvellir.

What is the closest living relative of the Icelandic language?

Icelandic has changed so little from Old Norse that the medieval sagas are still readable.

How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the nights before Christmas, one per night?

Well-behaved children get a small gift in their shoe; naughty ones get a rotten potato.

In Icelandic folklore, the Yule Cat eats people who have failed to do what before the holiday?

The Lads' mother Grýla is an ogress who cooks misbehaving children in a pot.

The 'Jólabókaflóð', literally the book flood, refers to what Icelandic habit?

Around 10% of Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime, and the country has the most bookstores per capita.

Which Icelander won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, the country's only Nobel to date?

Reykjavík was later designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2011.

Which of the medieval Icelanders' sagas tells of an epic blood feud and is the most famous of them all?

Grænlendinga saga and Eiríks saga describe the discovery of Greenland and Vinland.

Hákarl, Iceland's notorious fermented national dish, is made from which animal?

It is hung to dry for four to five months and reeks of ammonia; first-timers are told to pinch their nose.

Iceland's signature spirit brennivín is a caraway-flavoured schnapps distilled from what?

Its potency earned it the nickname 'Black Death'.

Skyr, eaten across Iceland, is technically what kind of food?

It is usually described as yogurt-like but is made like a fresh cheese.

Which sport is often referred to as Iceland's national sport?

Glíma, a medieval wrestling style, is the main traditional sport.

Iceland's 'Viking Thunder Clap' at Euro 2016 originally came from which club's supporters?

Iceland beat England 2-1 in the round of 16, the smallest nation ever to qualify for the tournament.

How many World's Strongest Man titles has Iceland won, the second most of any country?

Magnús Ver Magnússon and Jón Páll Sigmarsson took four each and Hafþór 'The Mountain' Björnsson won in 2018.

The Icelandic horse can perform which extra gait beyond walk, trot and canter?

Once an Icelandic horse leaves the country it may never return, to protect the herd from disease.

Björk first found international fame as lead singer of which Icelandic band?

She had already released a solo album at age 11 and later won Best Actress at Cannes for Dancer in the Dark.

Which Icelandic-born explorer reached America some 500 years before Columbus?

His settlement of Vinland may match the Norse ruins at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland.

Iceland's 2008 crisis followed the collapse of its three big banks. Which of these was NOT one?

The three had multiplied in size on cheap international credit before investors fled in 2008.

Iceland's first census, in 1703, counted roughly how many people?

After the Laki eruption the population fell to about 40,000, and it did not pass 60,000 until 1850.

Who carried out the 1627 'Turkish Abductions', the only invasion of Iceland to cause casualties?

Hundreds of Icelanders were carried off into slavery in North Africa.

Iceland's 19th-century emigrants founded 'New Iceland' around Gimli in which Canadian province?

About 15,000 people left out of a population of just 70,000 as the climate grew colder.

Iceland's Kvennalistinn, founded in 1983, was a global first of what kind?

Its legacy is a 40% quota for women in every major Icelandic party.

Iceland, one of the smallest nations ever at a FIFA World Cup, debuted at which tournament?

Two years earlier it had reached the Euro 2016 quarter-finals.

Which Icelandic children's TV show, created by Magnús Scheving, is broadcast in more than 100 countries?

The studios are in Garðabær, just outside Reykjavík.

Iceland's assembly was suspended for 46 years around 1800. What year was it restored, in Reykjavík?

Since 1881 it has met in the Alþingishús, built of hewn Icelandic stone.

Iceland was essentially free of which common insect until October 2025?

Only around 1,300 insect species are recorded on the island.