40 Interesting Facts about Iceland Very Few People Know

On October 24, 1975, 90% of Iceland’s female population went on strike, demanding equal rights. They did not work, do housework, or look after their kids for an entire day. In 1980, Iceland elected its first female president, who credits her win to this specific day.

2. Until 1987, there was no TV broadcast in Iceland on Thursdays. The idea behind the decision was to reserve Thursdays as a day for socializing. As a result, many Icelanders born before 1987 joke that they were most likely conceived on a Thursday.

3. 100% of Iceland's population has the internet, the only country in the world to do so.

4. Iceland is the only country in the world that doesn’t have mosquitoes.

5. Due to its isolated location, the Icelandic language has changed very little from its original roots. Modern Icelanders can still read texts written in the 10th Century with relative ease.

The city of Reykjavík, Iceland, uses hot water to maintain the temperature of a section of its downtown pond so that the birds living there always have a corner to swim, even in winter.

7. When naming a newborn in Iceland names not previously used aren't permitted via Icelandic rule. A new name would have to be pre-approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee. Also, they are not permitted to give a child a name that would embarrass them.

8. An Icelandic tradition called Jólabókaflóð exists, where books are exchanged as Christmas Eve presents and the rest of the night is spent reading them and eating chocolate.

9. Iceland was extensively forested before the first humans settled there. But within 500 years of their arrival, 95% of woodlands had been cut down, leading to soil erosion, crop failure, and the eventual abandonment of many farms.

10. The majority of Icelanders either believe in elves or are unwilling to rule out their existence.

Iceland has such a small population that they have an anti-incest app so that you don’t end up hooking up with a family member on a night out.

12. In Iceland, the phonebook is sorted by first names because everyone's surname is basically their father's first name followed by -son or -dottir.

13. Icelandic people actively work to eliminate English "loanwords" in their language by inventing and substituting new words from Old Icelandic and Norse roots.

14. A genetic study of people from Iceland found a number of them had a mutation predominantly found among Native Americans. It has theorized that this could be because of American women breeding with Viking men, during Norse exploration of America in the 11th century A.D.

15. If an Icelandic horse ever leaves Iceland, it is banished from the country forever.

In 2015, the authorities of the Westfjords region of Iceland repealed a 400-year-old law that dictated that any Basque people found in the region could be legally killed on the spot.

17. In Iceland, there is an elf whisperer who inspects construction sites before building to ensure no elves are hanging around.

18. The parliament of Iceland, the Althing, is the oldest surviving parliament in the world, having been founded in 930.

19. Beer was banned in Iceland until March 1, 1989, which is now celebrated annually as Beer Day. Iceland outlawed all forms of alcohol in 1915, but within 20 years had unbanned all alcoholic beverages except for beer.

20. Red traffic lights in Akureyri, Iceland are heart shaped. They appeared in 2008, as a morale booster after the financial crash that brought down Icelanders.

In 2013, the government of Iceland asked several FBI agents to leave after they lied to the local government and told them they were investigating terrorist hackers. It turned out they were investigating WikiLeaks.

22. Iceland has a Horse Naming Commission that oversees horse names across the country to ensure that no horse gets a foreign, vulgar, or inappropriate name.

23. Iceland used to have birch forests, but the Viking settlers cut them down then. Their sheep then ate the saplings, preventing any kind of forest regrowth leading to the barren landscape Iceland is known for.

24. In the year 1000, to save Iceland from civil war, both parties elected the wisest man to suggest a peaceful solution. He decided on a mass conversion to Christianity that tolerated pagan worship in private. Everyone agreed and he even converted himself.

25. Although Iceland is considered politically as part of Europe, it is geographically North American and European at the same time, due to the fact that half of Iceland belongs to the Eurasian plate and the other half to the North American plate.