Republic of Iceland – The Land of Thule

Country name: Iceland

Official Country name: Republic of Iceland

Nickname: The Land of Thule

Continent: Europe

Established as a Republic: 17th June 1944

Area: 103,001 square kilometers

Capital: Reykjavík

Share border with: It is an island country with no neighbor. The closest body is Greenland.

Other major cities: Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður and Akureyri

Population: 321,857 (Estimated on 12th February 2013)

Currency: Icelandic króna

Official Language: Icelandic

Other major language: Polish and Lithuanian

Religions: 87.51% Christianity (Church of Iceland, Lutherans, Catholics and other branches of Christianity), 12.5% other religions

5 Amazing and interesting facts about Iceland:

• There is no standing army, air force and navy of Iceland. Instead of Army, they have coast guards who are responsible for Iceland’s security and defense. Still if they are interested to join military, they can join Norwegian Army. Norway has agreed to give Icelanders same status as its citizens if they are interested to join army.

• Electricity is cheap in Iceland because there is plenty of hydroelectric energy. They can even export the electricity but due to long distance from other countries, it is too difficult to install supply line.

• Over 97% of the citizens have the access to internet.

• Average weather of the country is not much cold. Its a green country. In fact, the locals say, “Iceland should be named Greenland while Greenland should be named Iceland. “

• They have some of the very strange and amazing laws. Some of them are given below.
  • If a product is sold for six consecutive weeks on sale price then this discounted price will become the regular price of the product.
  • Foreign products can’t be sold if they have an image of Icelandic flag on it.
  • It is illegal for the citizens to adopt new surnames. First names also need approval by the National Naming Committee if aren’t previously used.
  • Pet lizard, snake or turtles can’t be owned in the country.
  • Alcoholic drinks were banned until 1989 while boxing was banned until 2002.