HAUKUR PARELIUS NATURE EXPLORER
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Publisher: Ýma ehf Árakur 18 IS 210 Garðabær Iceland Printed in Iceland by Litróf ltd. Photographs: ©Haukur Parelius 2015 Fun Facts: ©Haukur Parelius 2015 Layout: Blokkin - www.blokkin.is
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For a location guide, check www.Hawk.is for an interactive Google Map.
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ISBN 978-9979-72-800-9
Under no circumstances can this book or any part of this book be reproduced or copied in any way or form without prior permission of the copyright owner.
HAUKUR PARELIUS - HAWK
Hawk is a keen amateur photographer with a passion for the Icelandic wilderness and enjoys sharing it with his clients, and capturing its beauty through the lenses of his Canon 5D MIII. Hawk runs his own tour operating company in Iceland, Nature Explorer, which specializes in tours on modified 4x4s (‘Super-Jeeps’). Through his work as a driver/photo-guide he enjoys being out in the field photographing with his customers. Hawk is a certified International 4-Wheel Drive Trainer and member of the International 4-Wheel Drive Trainer’s Association. He has trained military forces and worked for ISAF, driving super-jeeps in Afghanistan, as well as had years of experience driving in the Icelandic wilderness and highlands. At the age of 14, Hawk was the first to bicycle from Reykjavík to Þórsmörk and started guiding for The Iceland Touring Association at the age of 17. He has guided for them and Útivist Travel Association occasionally through the years, both on hikes and jeep safaris, as well as been a member of a voluntary Mountain Search & Rescue team for years. Past adventures include having successfully climbed 5 of the world’s 7 summits and climbing in the Alps and the Himalayas. One of his proudest adventures is a rafting adventure/documentary film expedition with his mountain friends group through the Dark Canyon (Dimmugljúfur) in Northeast Iceland which was a contribution to the protection of the Icelandic highlands and unique nature. Hawk has a business degree from the University of Iceland and a Master’s degree in International Marketing and Management from Copenhagen Business School. He is also a certified Wilderness First Responder and regularly freshens up on his first aid skills.
Books: • Lightscapes / Iceland’s Nature Explored, co-authored with his father, Finn in 2011 (sold out) • Photo Guide to Iceland, a free e-book available online also co-authored with his father, Finn in 2014 Hawk also enjoys sharing his knowledge of Iceland and has compiled these fun facts on Iceland for you to enjoy. The fun facts give an idea about Iceland‘s geography, geology, nature and history as well as an insight to the culture and small nation mentality of Icelanders. The fun facts are gathered from different sources and are correct to the best of our knowledge – but as a guide, Hawk knows that you should never let a good story suffer from a minor detail like the truth – so if there are any factual mistakes, we apologize and hope it doesn‘t spoil the fun of reading them. Enjoy. For more photos and fun facts on Iceland, visit his personal website: www.Hawk.is
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FUN FACT
HOLUHRAUN ERUPTION
Each day during the 6 month eruption, (August 31st 2014 to Feb 28th 2015) in Holuhraun, Iceland emitted more Sulfur dioxide (SO2) than all of Europe combined. Europe is estimated to emit about 14,000 tons of Sulfur dioxide every day but the eruption in Holuhraun was estimated to emit 20,000 to 60,000 tons each day – so little Iceland polluted more than all of Europe combined.
FUN FACT
Eruptions in Iceland that affected the world: • Eyjafjallajokull in 2010: Ash cloud in a couple of weeks stopped more flights than the 911 attacks • Laki craters in 1783-4: Ash cloud lasted for years and caused crops to fail in Europe and as far as Japan • Öræfajökull in 1362: Ash cloud circled the Earth for 3 years, causing crops to fail as far as Egypt and China.
HOLUHRAUN ERUPTION REFLECTING IN THE RIVER FLÆÐUR 5
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FUN FACT
DYNJANDI
FUN FACT
There are 175 swimming pools in Iceland and they cover 32,000 m2 (344,445 ft2). Every town has one. The Westfjords has 400 m2 (4305 ft2) of swimming pools per 1000 inhabitants. A world record per capita.
FUN FACT
95% of visitors to Iceland in winter overnight in Reykjavik while only 3,5% overnight in the Westfjords. The Westfjords are Iceland’s best kept secret and worth visiting.
DYNJANDI 7
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FROSTASTAÐAVATN
FUN FACT
I
Iceland is the second largest island in Europe, 103,000 km² (39.768 mi²), about 25% larger than Ireland and about the same size as Kentucky, slightly smaller than Ohio.
FUN FACT
Iceland is not as cold as the name suggests. The average temperature in Reykjavik in January is 0°C (32°F) and in July 11°C (52°F). Anything above 15°C (59°F) is a heatwave and Icelanders are wearing T-shirts and shorts.
I LANDMANNALAUGAR 9
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FUN FACT
PUFFINS
Iceland was the first nation in the world to elect a female president, Miss Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, in 1980. Ms. Vigdís was also the first single woman in Iceland to adopt a child.
FUN FACT
Iceland was the first nation to have an openly gay Prime Minister, Mrs. J贸hanna Sigur冒ard贸ttir, in 2009.
REYKJADALIR
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FUN FACT
LAKE Beer was ĂžINGVALLAVATN banned until March 1st 1989. Many still celebrate March 1st as an imported milestone. 12
FUN FACT
On March 21st 2010 erotic dance or stripping was banned in Iceland by law with votes of members of parliament from all political parties.
LAKE ĂžINGVALLAVATN 13
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FUN FACT
NORTHERN LIGHTS OVER JÖKULSÁRLÓN
Beer was banned until March 1st 1989. Many still celebrate March 1st as an imported milestone.
FUN FACT
Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is now the deepest lake in Iceland, almost 300 m (1000 ft) deep. The glacier is retreating by 200 m (650 ft) per year so Jökulsárlón is growing rapidly as the glacier melts.
JÖKULSÁRLÓN GLACIER LAGOON 15
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FUN FACT
KERLINGARFJÖLL
The Icelandic parliament, Alþingi, is the oldest established parliament in the world, founded in 930 AD.
FUN FACT
The Icelander Leif ‚the lucky‘ Eriksson was the first European to set foot on the North American continent in the year 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus.
KERLINGARFJÖLL
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FUN FACT
’SHOUTING TROLL’
J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, was a scholar of old languages and gave courses in them, including Icelandic, at the University of Leeds. Tolkien and his family had three Icelandic au-pairs; Arndís (Adda), Áslaug and Rúna.
FUN FACT
Tolkien used a lot from the Icelandic and Old Norse mythology when writing L.O.R.; Middle Earth, elves and trolls - and he spent over 2 years in Iceland while writing his books.
’THE SCREAM’ - A GEOTHERMAL POOL MAKING A FACE 19
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FUN FACT
SKÓGAFOSS
Rainbows form when sunlight enters raindrops at an angle of 42° or lower. Iceland gets a lot of rainbows because the sun is always low in the sky.
FUN FACT
Our language is Icelandic, a Nordic language that has changed very little for over a 1000 years. The closest languages are Faroe and Old Norse (Norwegian).
HELLUFELL
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EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL
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FUN FACT
Before the eruption in 2010 - a glacier lagoon over 30 m (100ft) deep.
The Icelandic currency, Króna (ISK) is the smallest independent currency in the world. The Icelandic Krona has lost 99,7% of it’s value since the foundation of the Icelandic Central bank in 1961.
EYJAFJALLAJĂ–KULL
FUN FACT
The literacy rate in Iceland is 99,9% - highest in the world.
The eruption filled up the lagoon and left icebergs that melted and the green algae settled in the holes. 23
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FUN FACT
ERUPTION IN FIMMVÖRÐUHÁLS IN 2010
What do Iceland and Hawaii have in common? Both are sitting on a hot spot and therefore have a lot of volcanic eruptions.
FUN FACT
There are between 35 and 50 active volcanoes in Iceland. There is generally an eruption every 3-4 years. There have been 40 volcanic eruptions in Iceland in the last 100 years.
ERUPTION IN FIMMVÖRÐUHÁLS IN 2010 25
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STRANGE ROAD SIGNS IN STRANGER PLACES
FUN FACT
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FUN FACT
The sign above is on a hiking trail, Fimmvörduhals that lies between two glaciers. The nearest civilization is about 10 km away.
Iceland Forest Service: “Men with an erection are forbidden to shoot motorcyclists in the back!’
Icelandic men have the largest penis in Europe, 16,51 cm (6.5 inches). Source: Daily Mail, 30.09.2012 on research by Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University.
FUN FACT
STRANGE ROAD SIGNS IN STRANGER PLACES
FUN FACT
85% of Icelandic roads falls under the international classication category of low density traffic, since their annual traffic density is under 500 vehicles per day. The Icelandic road that has the highest density traffic has 75,000 vehicles per day. The busiest road in the world, Highway 401 in Toronto, Canada has around 500,000 vehicles per day. A radio ad once said: ‚Are you tired of being stuck in traffic for 10 minutes...‘ Ten minutes is unacceptable for most Icelanders.
River Crossing... where is the river? About a meter under the vehicle.
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FUN FACT
HORSE BELOW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
The Icelandic horse has a unique gait, tรถlt, and is the only horse in the world that can do 5 gaits. There is a horse for every four Icelanders and there are twice as many sheep as people.
FUN FACT
Reykjavik is the most northern capital in the world and the most western city in Europe.
SVÍNAFELLSJÖKULL
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FUN FACT
ALDEYJARFOSS
Iceland is growing by 2 cm (1 inch) a year because of drift of the tectonic plates.
FUN FACT
Iceland is the only place on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that’s above sea level.
SELJALANDSFOSS
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FUN FACT
ARCTIC FOX
The arctic fox was the only mammal in Iceland before the Viking settlers. Most likely the arctic fox came from Greenland, crossing the frozen sea.
FUN FACT
An Ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) found in 1868 by the shore of Iceland was then 374 year old and is the oldest living creature found alive. This tough shell creature is estimated to be able to reach the age of 400 years. Source: Discovery News.
RAVEN ON THE SIGN FOR A ‘SIGHTSEEING POINT’ 33
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FUN FACT
VÍÐIMÝRI TURF CHURCH IN SKAGAFJÖRÐUR
FUN FACT
Three out of four Icelanders belong to the National Lutheran Church, 3% are Catholic, 0.1% are muslim and 0.4% believe in the old nordic religion, Ásatrú.
FUN FACT
Iceland has the highest public expenditure to culture in the world - per capita of course. Iceland has also one of the highest consumption of culture in the world. In Iceland proportionally more people work in culture related jobs than in any other European country, twice as high as the EU average.
FIREWORKS BY HARPA ON REYKJAVIK CULTURAL NIGHT 35
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FUN FACT
MT. ESJA AND VIÐEY ISLAND OUTSIDE REYKJAVIK
Reykjavik has enjoyed a white Christmas 35 times in the last 86 years (so 40% chance).
FUN FACT
The Icelandic language has 46 different words for snowfall.
WINTER IN FJALLABAK MT. RESERVE 37
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FUN FACT
OLD BOREHOLE FOR GEOTHERMAL WATER IN MT. KERLINGARFJĂ–LL
Iceland produces more electricity per capita than any other country in the world. Only 5% goes to households because 90% of homes are heated with geothermal hot water. 78% of all the electricity that Iceland produces goes to big industry, mostly foreign aluminum smelters.
FUN FACT
Electricity production in Iceland was the highest in the world per capita in 2014, 56 megawatt hours per inhabitant. Norway is second with less than 30 megawatt hours per capita. Source: RÚV News 09.03.2015.
OLD BOREHOLE FOR GEOTHERMAL WATER IN MT. KERLINGARFJÖLL 39
HORNBJARG
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FUN FACT
Hornbjarg in Hornstrandir is the largest bird cliff in Europe but no people so the foxes are unafraid.
Icelandic surnames are usually the father’s first name + son/daughter. My first name is Haukur so my son, Baldvin is Hauksson. If Baldvin has a daughter, she will be Baldvinsdóttir. Simple, easy and logical.
HORNSTRANDIR
FUN FACT
Icelanders are listed in the phonebook under their first names, not their surnames. Icelander’s address everybody, including our president by the first name, not the surname.
Abandoned herring factory in HestvĂk in Hornstrandir.
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FUN FACT
LAKE The 3 most ÁLFTAVATN common male first names in Iceland are Jón, Sigurður, Guðmundur. IN TheFJALLABAK 3 most common female first names in Iceland are Guðrún, Anna, Sigríður. MT. RESERVE 42
• Sgríður means beauty of battle or the one who loves battle. • Sigurður means guard in battle or protection in battle.
FUN FACT
Most Icelandic names have a meaning: • Guðmundur means gift of God or defender of God. • Guðrún means secret of God or friendsship of God.
LAKE ÁLFTAVATN IN FJALLABAK MT. RESERVE 43
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FUN FACT
TUNGNAĂ RIVER
There is an official committee responsible for approving new names into the Icelandic language and there is a list of approved names to choose from. This to protect our language and culture.
FUN FACT
FUN FACT
There is another committee, The Icelandic Language Council, which is responsible for finding or inventing new Icelandic words, that conform to the Icelandic language.
PATTERNS IN A BUBBLING MUD PIT 45
HOLUHRAUN
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FUN FACT
Winter sun through the smoke from Holuhraun eruption.
The Sun only rises 2,1째 degrees above the horizon on the winter solstice while in northern Iceland on the summer solstice you can see the Sun go down, go half into the ocean and start rising again.
ASKJA
FUN FACT
The first men on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (+ Michael Collins who stayed in the spacecraft) trained in Iceland, around Askja volcano. Wonder why?
Sun shining through the gas from Holuhraun eruption creates an un-earthly glow near Askja. 47
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FUN FACT
SNÆFELLSJÖKULL
The tallest structure in Western Europe, is a 412 m (1351 ft) tall radio mast, is located at Snæfellsnes. The Shard in London is ‘only’ 306 m (1006 ft) and the Eiffel tower 301 m (986 ft)
FUN FACT
Snæfellsjökull was the entry point in Jules Verne’s book Journey to the Center of the Earth.
ARNARSTAPI
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FUN FACT
LAVA FIELDS BY KRAFLA AND LEIRHNJĂšKUR
Almost 2/3 of Iceland is uninhabitable; glaciers, lava fields, mountains and deserts. 1% of Iceland is cultivated and 20% used for grazing.
FUN FACT
1.3% of Iceland is what we call ‘forested’ but an Icelandic forest was best described by our former minister of agriculture when he said: ‘Where two trees come together, we have a forest’.
CRATER BY LEIRHNJÚKUR 51
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FUN FACT
BABY GYR FALCONS
Aside from children’s entertainment, television shows and films are not dubbed in Iceland but subtitled - which might be a reason why Icelanders generally speak good English.
FUN FACT
Icelandic is one of few languages that makes you a decade older. In English, a 31 year old is ‘in her/his thirties’ while in Icelandic the same person is ‘in her/his approaching forty’.
BABY GYR FALCONS 53
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FUN FACT
ICE CAVE IN VATNAJĂ–KULL GLACIER
FUN FACT
If the ice in the Icelandic glaciers was evenly spread over the country, like jam on bread, it would be 35 m / 115 ft thick.
FUN FACT
Vatnajรถkull is the largest glacier in Europe, about 3x larger than the size of Luxembourg or Rhode Island. Iceland has 13 glaciers and they cover 11% of the country.
ICE CAVE IN VATNAJร KULL GLACIER 55
The last farmer at Núpstaður (Born 2/12, 1919, died 23/5 2010) 56
FUN FACT
FILUPPUS HANNESSON
Iceland has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Filippus and his older sister, Margrét were the oldest living siblings in Iceland, with over 205 years total.
FUN FACT
Iceland is the least densely populated country in Europe with only 3 people per km². Over half the population lives in Reykjavik and 2/3 in the southwest corner - so despite being the least denseliy populated country in Europe, Iceland could qualify as an urban state.
HĂ“LMUR FARM
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FUN FACT
FJALLSÁRJÖKULL
Icelanders converted from the old pagan religion, Ásatrú to Christianity in the Alþingi assembly in 1000 AD without any bloodshed - which is unique in the world’s history. However, when converting from Catholism to Lutheran, the Catholic bishop was killed - and his two sons.
FUN FACT
Many movies were partly filmed in Iceland: Noah, Oblivion, Game of Thrones, 2 James Bond movies, Prometheus, Interstellar - but only in one did the story take place in Iceland, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
INDIAN POPSTAR Making a music video below Iceland’s highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur. 59
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FUN FACT
SUN RAYS IN SOUTH ICELAND
Iceland has no army or military forces and the police is not armed. (You could probably take over Iceland with about 50 Hells Angels.)
FUN FACT
The only weapon ever invented in Iceland is wire cutter for cutting the nets from the British trawlers during the ‘Cod Wars’ - a dispute over control over our fishing grounds.
BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS ABOVE EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL 61
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FUN FACT
MÝVATN
Icelander‘s publish the largest number of books in the world per capita.
FUN FACT
Dettifoss in Jรถkulsรก รก Fjรถllum in northern Iceland is the most powerful waterfall in Europe.
DETTIFOSS 63
FUN FACT
DETTIFOSS The lowest temperature IN WINTER measured in Iceland is -38°C (-34,4°F), recorded in January 1918 in Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, near Dettifoss , which is one of the most isolated farms in the country. 64
FUN FACT
Temperature has exceeded 30°C (86°F) six times in Iceland‘s history, last in 1991.
DETTIFOSS IN WINTER 65
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FUN FACT
KIRKJUFELLSFOSS
The maximum prison sentence in Iceland is 16-18 years. Normally prisoners can get parole after 2/3 of their sentence, which means the can get out after about 10 years.
FUN FACT
Mt. Kirkjufell is the view from one of the prisons in Iceland, KvĂabryggja. There are 154 people in prison in Iceland, 151 males and 3 females (October 2014 figure). There are however 460 people on a waiting list to go to prison.
KIRKJUFELL 67
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FUN FACT
ARNARFJÖRÐUR
Icelanders are about 0.004% of the total world population but Iceland catches about 3% of the total world catch of fish. Icelandic waters cover 758,000 km² (292.665 mi²) which is a larger area than Texas. Fish is by far the largest goods export of Iceland.
FUN FACT
The old traditional Icelandic food, Þorramatur, comes from the fact that through most of our history we were miserable peasants which had to use every part of the live stock - and had limited means of storing food. Þorramatur includes things like burned sheep heads, sour sheep testicles, fermented shark and Slátur (similar to Haggish and black pudding). The drink to go with it is Brennivín, the traditional Icelandic schnapps.
SÓLHEIMASANDUR
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FUN FACT
There are a few Icelandic words in the English dictionary: Geyser, Saga, Jokulhlaup, Berserk, STROKKUR
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FUN FACT
The Icelandic geyser, Geysir gave name to the phenomenon. So it’s ‘a geyser’ in every language in the world - except Icelandic. In Icelandic a geyser is goshver and just one is named Geysir. For over 500 years, Geysir was the only known geyser in the world.
STROKKUR
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FUN FACT
EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL ERUPTION 2010
In Icelandic multiple words are commonly combined into one. For example the famous Eyja-fjalla-jökull (means: island-mountain-glacier) Pronounced: ‘AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kutl-uh’ - according to a best selling T-shirt.
FUN FACT
Icelandic words can become so long because it‘s possible to combine genitive words. The longest word in the Icelandic language is: Vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur.
HOLUHRAUN ERUPTION 2014 73
FÁ MYND FUN FACT
DYNKUR The Icelandic WATERFALL female footballIN(soccer) team is ranked #16 in the world, much higher than the Icelandic male football team WINTER which has ranked highest #37 and lowest #125 - so the phrase ”you play like a girl” is really a compliment in Iceland. 74
Although football is is the most popular sport, the sport we’re good at is team handball. Iceland won the silver medal in the Beijing Olympics and bronse in the European Championships. In the last World Cup, four different countries had Icelandic coaches. The official national sport is however Glíma, an old Viking type of wrestling.
FUN FACT
D Í RAW DYNKUR
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FUN FACT
SPRAY PATTERNS FROM DETTIFOSS
If all the ice in Iceland would melt, it would raise sea level by 1 centimeters. If all the ice in Greenland would melt, it would raise sea level by 7 meters. If all the ice in Antartica would melt, it would raise sea level by 60 meters.
FUN FACT
The oldest ice in Iceland is about 1,000 years old. The oldest ice in Greenland is about 120,000 years old. The oldest ice in Antartica is about 1,000,000 years old.
GLACIER PATTERNS IN SVÍNAFELLSJÖKULL 77
ÞRÍHNJÚKAGÍGUR
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FUN FACT
Amazing colours deep inside the Earth. Water dripping down into Þríhnjúkagígur volcano, some 120 mt (400 ft).
Iceland has over 400 lava tube caves which total over 100 km (62 mi) in length.
AURORA BOMB
FUN FACT
There are 65 golf courses in Iceland, 1 for every 5,000 inhabitants, another world record per capita.
Amazing colours above the Earth.
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FUN FACT
MARKARFLJĂ“T RIVER DELTA
Iceland has won Miss World three times - so one out of every 50,000 Icelandic women is a Miss World. Another world record - per capita.
FUN FACT
Two Icelanders have won the World’s Strongest, Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon. Both won the title four times so Iceland has won it 8 times total. No need for ‘per capita’ measurements here.
BREAKING THE WAVES BY DYRHÓLAEY 81
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FUN FACT
FIREWORKS ON JÖKULSÁRLÓN GLACIER LAGOON
There are 4 declensions in the Icelandic language and even our names are subject to them. My name for example changes depending how it’s in a sentence: Haukur – Hauk – Hauki – Hauks.
FUN FACT
There are 32 letters in the Icelandic alphabet (compared to only 26 in the English language). Yet we do not have C or W, but instead Á, Ð, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý, Þ, Æ, Ö – but that‘s ok because we are very clever people.
FIREWORKS ON JÖKULSÁRLÓN GLACIER LAGOON 83
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FUN FACT
MY DAUGHTER IN AMONG THE ELVES IN SOMEBODY’S BACKYARD IN DRANGSNES
Iceland has 13 Santa Clause‘s or Yule-lads. They’re a bit mischievous but also put gifts in children’s shoes (not socks). The parents of the Yule-lads, Grýla and Leppalúði, are used to scare children to behave.
FUN FACT
The Icelandic Met Office has charted the best and worst summer wedding days weatherwise. August 22 is worst, it has rained on 54% of that date in the last 55 years. June 9 had least rain. On July 20, 21 and 22 temperature has exceeded 15째C (59째F) ten times since 1949.
NOT A TYPICAL ICELANDIC WEDDING
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FUN FACT
World events that happened in Iceland: • Fischer - Spassky chess match in 1972. • Reagan & Gorbachev summit in 1986. 86
FUN FACT
The most famous Icelander is the singer Björk. She was voted 10th most eccentric celebrity in November 2012. Björk is also on Time‘s 2015 top 100 list of the most influencial people in the world.
DALAKOFINN, MT. CABIN IN FJALLABAK 87
88
FUN FACT
SEASTACKS AT DJÚPALÓN
Modern Icelandic is taught in 43 universities around the world - and remember, we’re only 320,000 people. Old Norse / Icelandic is taught in 79 universities around the world.
In English and most languages Spiderman is Spiderman. In Icelandic Spiderman is Köngulóarmaðurinn.
FUN FACT
In English and most languages Batman is Batman. In Icelandic Batman is Leðurblökumaðurinn.
DJÚPALÓN IN SNÆFELLSNES 89
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FUN FACT
JÖKULSÁRLÓN
Iceland is self sufficent on meat and dairy products and produces about 40% of it’s own vegetables, mostly in geothermally heated greenhouses.
FUN FACT
Iceland is the largest banana grower in Scandinavia. We have two banana trees in a greenhouse.
BRÚÁRFOSS
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FUN FACT
LITLANEFSFOSS
Icelandic is one of very few languages that doesn‘t use the words computer, television or telephone. The Icelandic Language Council made new Icelandic words for them.
FUN FACT
Television in Icelandic is Sj贸nvarp (Sj贸n means sight and varp means projecting or shedding). Computer in Icelandic is T枚lva, made from the Icelandic words for numbers and a fortune teller - so a computer is a fortune teller of numbers.
FJALLABAK MOUNTAIN RESERVE 93
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FUN FACT
ÞÓRSMÖRK
The shortest day in Reykjavik is 4 hours and 18 minutes. Sunrise at 11:22 and sunset at 15:30. In Akureyri the winter solstice day is 3 hours and 4 minutes long from sunrise to sunset.
FUN FACT
There are over 700 geothermal areas in Iceland. Iceland is not burning any fossel fuel for heating or electricity. It‘s all hydro or geothermal.
BLUE LAGOON 95
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FUN FACT
FJALLABAK MOUNTAIN RESERVE
Olympic boxing was banned until 2002. Professional boxing is still banned.
ISBN 978-9979-72-800-9
9 789979 728009
This book is an ideal gift and souvenir from Iceland; Short anecdotes and fun facts on Iceland which are diverse in subject, infomative, entertaining and educational. Without having to read long texts, you can learn all kinds of fun things on the geology, culture, language and history of Iceland – often put into context with the world. Open the book on any page, read a couple of lines and learn something new and interesting. The book also contains a great variety of beautiful photographs of the diverse Icelandic nature; volcanoes, glaciers, Northern Lights, waterfalls, black sand beaches and secret gems in the highlands. See the amazing landscape of Iceland and enjoy the fun facts about the country and the people who live in it. Fun Fact: Iceland is growing by 2 cm (1 inch) a year because of drift of the tectonic plates. Fun Fact: Beer was banned until March 1st 1989. Many still celebrate March 1st as an imported milestone. Fun Fact: The Icelandic language has 46 different words for snowfall. Fun Fact: The Icelandic currency, Króna (ISK) is the smallest independent currency in the world. The Icelandic Krona has lost 99,7% of it’s value since the foundation of the Icelandic Central bank in 1961.