As you all know, Iceland is a wonderful place to visit once in a lifetime. But, there are various fun facts about Iceland that you don’t know about. Here are some of the fantastic facts you should know before planning your trip to Iceland.

1. IcelandwassettledbyVikingsfrom Norwaysometimeinthe
800s.ThisfactmakesIcelandafairly“young”countrywhenit
comestosettlement.
VIKINGTIES
FACT
1
IcelandishometotheveryfirstparliamentgroundsinEurope.
Intheyear930AD,thefirstParliamentmetinIcelandinwhat
istodayÞingvellirNationalPark.
FIRSTPARLIAMENT
FACT
2
The“geographicalsignificance”partofÞingvellirbeingdubbed
aUNESCOsiteisduetothefactthatthisisoneofonlyTWO
placesintheentireworld
TECTONICPLATES
FACT
3
Becauseit'slocatedontheMid-Atlanticridge,Icelandisan
incrediblyactivecountrygeologically.Therearemorethan125
volcanicmountainsinthecountry.
VOLCANOES
FACT
4
Surprisingly,anotherlargesectionofIcelandiscoveredin
glaciers.Glaciersareresponsibleforcarvingouteverythingin
Iceland.
GLACIERS
FACT
5
Iceland was formed by some pretty harsh phenomena:
volcanoesandglaciers.Muchofthecountrywascarvedoutby
slow-movingglaciers.
NOFORESTS
FACT
6
Icelandisperhapsthemosteco-friendlycountryIknow of.
Andthekickeris,theydon'tevenhavetotryveryhard.
ECO-FRIENDLY
FACT
7
Whileverycloseto Danishand Norwegian,theIcelandic
languageremainstotallyunique.Wordswithfartoomany
consonantsabound,andsyllablesseemtojustblurtogether.
PRESERVEDLANGUAGE
FACT
8
Themajorityofpresent-dayIcelanders(morethan50%,Iwas
told)believeintheexistenceoffantasticalbeingssuchas
elvesandtrolls.
ELVESANDTROLLS
FACT
9
Asastonishingasitsounds,IcelandistheonlycountryIhave
everbeentowhereMcDonaldsrestaurantsdonotexist!
NOMC-DONALDS
FACT
10
Icelandmakesupforitslackoffastfoodwithitsbevyof
downrightweirdtraditionalfoods.Alongwiththingslikewhale,
puffin,anddriedfish.
WEIRDFOODS
FACT
11
FishingisIceland'smainindustry,andthenationremainsone
ofjustafewintheworldthatstillallowscommercialwhaling.
COMMERCIALWHALING
FACT
12
TheentirecountryofIceland(whichcoversroughlythesame
areaastheU.S.stateofKentucky)onlyholdsapopulationofa
littleover300,000.
SMALLPOPULATION
FACT
13
ThereislittlecrimeinIceland,andvirtuallynoviolentcrime.
Thecountrydoesnothaveastandingarmy,anditspolice
officersdonotcarryguns.
VERYLITTLECRIME
FACT
14
Being located very close to the Arctic Circle,Iceland
experienceslongwinternightsandlongsummerdays,with
almost24hoursofdarkness/twilightinDecember.
MIDNIGHTSUN
FACT
15
FUNFACTSABOUT
ICELAND
www.discover.is
Credits:dangerous-business.com