| Iceland straddles a major geological fault (the Mid-Atlantic Rift) on a submarine ridge connecting Scotland with Greenland. While the island nation must accommodate frequent earthquakes, it hosts probably the richest geological diversity found anywhere on earth. There are examples of nearly every type of volcano known to exist, meteor craters, steam holes, mud pools, and more hot springs than in any other country. In fact, the origin of the word "geysir" is Icelandic. |
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| Though Iceland's earliest settlements are believed to have been monastic Irish, its first Norse visitors arrived fortuitously when Viking Gardar the Swede was blown off course around 860. Ten years and a couple of rough expeditions later, more Viking settlers arrived. Due to 97% of its land mass being above an altitude where any crops are arable, Iceland's total population has never grown above around 270,000. Its isolation has preserved Old Norse intact, which is why U.S. students of Scandinavian languages are required to take Icelandic at university. You can also thank Iceland for a couple of extremely eclectic characters in your symbol sets, namely "Ð" and "Þ." |
| Apart from their unfortunate penchant for killing whales, I only observed one other Icelandic bad habit. Drinking. I'm not talking the odd glass of tipple. I'm talking routine ethanol poisoning on a societal scale. With apparently nothing else to do on a weekend night, Reykjavik's youth circumnavigate their capital city slowly in their cars, bumper-to-bumper in single-file fashion. Procession of this slow train is interrupted only when one car must stop, an occupant (typically the driver) alights to regurgitate a splash of partially-digested herring on the sidewalk, then gets back in the car to start the train moving again. (Alcohol might also explain someone's decision to build a cabin at the base of a known avalanche area, pictured here.) |
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| Iceland is an easy stopover between Europe and North America, but be prepared for high prices upon arrival (due to the country's need to import everything). |
