Interesting Things We Learned About Iceland

Iceland's surface is 11% lava covered and 12% glacial covered, hence the nickname "Land of Fire and Ice." The weather here is not as cold as you would think (especially for a country that goes by the name of ICE-land). We were told that the temperatures in the winter are just below freezing and the temperatures in the summer are usually in the 50's. The state religion is Lutheran. There is only one Catholic church in Reykjavik. There are only 18,000 Catholics in the country, most of them are from Poland. There are 7 universities in the country, with three of those being in Reykjavik. The top industries are 1) tourism, 2) fishing, and 3) aluminum (or as our local tour guide pronounced it, al-you-min-ium). There is no aluminum ore found in Iceland; the aluminum ore is shipped from Australia. But the reason aluminum is such a big industry here is because it takes a lot of power to make aluminum, and power is very cheap here. Fishing used to be the top industry, but recently was passed by tourism. The main reason for the increase in tourism stems from the publicity the country received in 2010 when the volcanic eruption halted air traffic and thus garnered international attention. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Iceland, as people learned about the unique beauty of the country and tourism then began to flourish. Iceland does not have an army, only a coast guard to protect the valuable fishing industry. Bananas are actually grown in Iceland, making it the only country in Europe to export bananas. Much of the landscape of Iceland consists of moss-covered lava. There are 600 different species of moss here. Iceland is almost treeless, as only 1% of the country is wooded. There are no snakes in Iceland, and no mosquitoes. There is a polar bear problem. Polar bears come to Iceland from Greenland by either swimming or floating on ice. Greenland is only 168 miles from Iceland, and in fact you can see Greenland from a certain point in Iceland. When the polar bears arrive in Iceland, they are immediately killed because there are no facilities here to care for them. Greenland doesn't want them back because of potential diseases. There are many farms that dot the countryside of Iceland: horse farms, sheep farms, and dairy farms. The sheep farmers share the hillsides where the sheep graze, but it doesn't cause problems, we were told, because every farmer knows his own sheep. (I know a Shepherd who knows His own sheep and calls them by name.)