Iceland is the lead understood European country. Iceland is not a land of ice as the name implies. It is the second largest country in the European continent. It is also the youngest and the last settled country in Europe. Iceland is a land of contraries. You can find glaciers and volcanoes, hot springs and extensive lava, sandy desert and sumptuous vegetation. Many parts of the land are not habitable. The entire landscape is rugged and wild.

Country statistics
Iceland covers 103,300 km2 with glaciers for 11,000 km2 and lake streams for 2,700 km2. The country has forests spreading in the area of 1,511 km2. The largest lake in the country is Dingvallavatn and the highest peak is Hvannadalshnukur. The capital of the country is Reykjavík.

Population
The country has more than 300,000 people and about 150,000 people live in the capital. The other percentage of people are scattered along the coastal areas. Many interior parts of the country are not suitable for living. The average life span of Icelanders is 80 years.

Climate
The climate is moderate around the year and the Gulf Stream keeps the country warm. The summer has endless days and nights of sunlight and winter has endless days and night so darkness.

Power
Since Iceland has many volcanoes out of which 30 have erupted in the past two centuries. These provide geothermal power for the country. The rivers flowing in the country provide hydroelectric power. As there are many hot water rivers, the country gets pollution free heating.

Language
Iceland is the place where the Nordic people settled in the early 9th century. Ingólfur Arnarson, a Norwegian Viking is the first person to settle in the capital. So the people follow the Vikings language and the language has been improved by many civilizations. The people of island use patronymics instead of surnames. Hence members of the same family have different surnames which are confusing for the foreigners.

Culture and heritage
The people of Iceland follow ancient heritage along with modern innovations. They live in perfect harmony. The country has many artists who are experts in singing and music compositions. Many colorful festivals are celebrated at different times and theme exhibitions are conducted often. The country hosts supreme cuisines that provide sea food delicacies.

Government
Iceland is the country which has one of the world’s first republican governments. Now the country is ruled by parliament called as Althing which has 63 members. These members are elected every four years. The head of state in the country has no influence on the day top day politics.

Economy
The country’s economy greatly depends on fishing. Most of the people in the country are related in fishing and other related jobs. The government now concentrates more on travel industry and the export industry is the second largest industry that is next to fishing industry. The country finds most of its money by exporting sea foods. Iceland is a recognized member of the European Economic Area (EEC) and European Fee Trade Association (EFTA).

Health care
Travel insurance is not provided by the tourism department. Apart from that the medical assistance and the health care facilities are very good in the country.

Tourist attractions
Many activities in the island attract more and more tourist. Some of them include whale watching, bird watching, hiking, horse riding, skiing, cycling, fishing, kayaking and glacier tours. The people of Iceland are hospitable in nature and you can have a great vacation when you visit Iceland. The country has anything and everything the nature can provide. Since the climate is always warm you can visit the country in any season.

By Jayashree Pakhare