This Iceland trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the whole country: the geology that put it on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Viking settlement of 874 and the world's oldest parliament, the Cod Wars, the Reykjavík Summit and the Fischer-Spassky match, and the culture that makes Iceland odd and wonderful, from patronymic surnames and the Naming Committee to the thirteen Yule Lads, fermented shark, brennivín and the Viking Thunder Clap. The first questions are easy enough for anyone planning a first trip; the last ones will test people who have driven the whole Ring Road. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Roughly what share of Iceland's population lives within its capital city's limits?
35%
The wider Capital Region holds about 64% of the country's roughly 395,000 people.
Q 02Iceland's capital holds what distinction among the capitals of sovereign states?
Northernmost
It sits at 64°08′ N on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay.
Q 03The name Reykjavík translates roughly as what?
Smoky bay
The 'smoke' was steam rising from the area's hot springs.
Q 04According to the Landnámabók, who became Iceland's first permanent settler in 874?
Ingólfr Arnarson
He supposedly threw his high-seat pillars overboard and settled where they washed ashore, at Reykjavík.
Q 05Which Norseman gave Iceland its name after climbing a mountain and seeing an ice-filled fjord?
Flóki Vilgerðarson
Naddodd had first called it Snæland (Snowland) and Garðar named it Garðarshólmur after himself.
Q 06Iceland's parliament, the Althing, was founded in which year, making it one of the oldest in the world?
930
It met each summer at Þingvellir, where laws were memorised and recited rather than written down.
Q 07Iceland's national assembly met at Þingvellir from 930 until which year, when it last sat there?
1798
The site is also a rift valley marking the boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates.
Q 08Iceland became a fully independent republic on 17 June of which year, with Denmark occupied?
1944
King Christian X of Denmark still sent a message of congratulations.
Q 09Iceland's 'Cod Wars' of the 1950s-70s were fishing disputes with which country?
United Kingdom
Iceland won every round, its coast guard using long hawsers to cut the nets of British trawlers.
Q 10The final Cod War of 1975-76 followed Iceland extending its fishing zone to how many nautical miles?
200
The limits crept out from 3 to 4 miles in 1952, then 12, then 50, then 200.
Q 11Which two leaders held a 1986 summit at Höfði House in Reykjavík that helped end the Cold War?
Reagan and Gorbachev
The talks collapsed at the last minute over 'a single word', but led to the 1987 INF Treaty.
Q 12Reykjavík hosted the 1972 'Match of the Century' in which game?
Chess
Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky 12½–8½ to end 24 years of Soviet domination.
Q 13In 1980 Iceland made Vigdís Finnbogadóttir head of state, the world's first woman to do what?
Win a national presidential election
She served 16 years, still the longest tenure of any elected female head of state.
Q 21Roughly what proportion of Iceland's total primary energy comes from domestic renewables?
85%
Geothermal and hydro give it the world's highest electricity output per person.
Q 22Iceland is the second-largest island in Europe. Which is the largest?
Great Britain
Iceland is the 18th-largest island in the world.
Q 23The Arctic Circle does not cross mainland Iceland, but it does pass through which small Icelandic island?
Grímsey
The main island lies entirely south of the circle, between 63 and 68 degrees north.
Q 24Which of these is TRUE of Icelandic surnames?
Q 14Iceland is the only NATO member with no what?
Standing army
Its Coast Guard handles defence, and the US-run Iceland Defense Force left Keflavík in 2006.
Q 15Iceland straddles the boundary between which two tectonic plates?
Eurasian and North American
It is the only large island in the world sitting on a mid-ocean ridge above sea level.
Q 16What does the Icelandic verb 'geysa', root of 'geyser', mean?
To gush or rush forward
Geysir now rarely erupts; its neighbour Strokkur goes off every 8-10 minutes.
Q 17Which volcano's 2010 eruption grounded air travel across northern and western Europe for a week?
Eyjafjallajökull
Meltwater getting into the vent made the eruption explosive, sending fine ash into the jet stream.
Q 18The 1783 eruption of which volcano triggered a famine that killed a quarter of Icelanders?
Laki
Its haze hung over Europe for months and over half of Iceland's livestock died in the 'Mist Hardships'.
Q 19Surtsey, an island that rose from the sea off Iceland's south coast in 1963, is named after what?
A Norse fire giant
Only scientists studying how life colonises new land are allowed to set foot on it.
Q 20What gives the Blue Lagoon spa's geothermal water its milky-blue colour?
Silica
The lagoon is man-made, and bathers rub the white silica mud on their skin.
Most are patronymic, from the father's name
The phone book lists people by first name, and everyone addresses everyone by first name.
Q 25A new given name in Iceland must be approved by which body?
The Icelandic Naming Committee
It once refused to register a girl called Blær because the word was a masculine noun; a court overruled it in 2013.
Q 26Icelandic is the only living language to still use which runic letter in its Latin alphabet?
Þ
The 'thorn' letter, pronounced like the 'th' in 'thing', appears in Þingvellir.
Q 27What is the closest living relative of the Icelandic language?
Faroese
Icelandic has changed so little from Old Norse that the medieval sagas are still readable.
Q 28How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the nights before Christmas, one per night?
13
Well-behaved children get a small gift in their shoe; naughty ones get a rotten potato.
Q 29In Icelandic folklore, the Yule Cat eats people who have failed to do what before the holiday?
Receive new clothes
The Lads' mother Grýla is an ogress who cooks misbehaving children in a pot.
Q 30The 'Jólabókaflóð', literally the book flood, refers to what Icelandic habit?
Buying most of the year's books before Christmas
Around 10% of Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime, and the country has the most bookstores per capita.