Things I learned in Iceland :
- Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in the world with only 332,000 residents and over 40,000 mi.²
- Even though its name implies the whole island is covered in ice, the Gulfstream actually provides a temperate climate. The climate in Iceland is much like the climate on the Alaskan peninsula even though Alaska is much closer to the equator.
- The country runs almost entirely on renewable energy.
- The United Nations lists Iceland as the 13th most developed country in the world.
- Thank goodness for tourism to help recover Iceland after it’s 2008 financial problems.
- Iceland is actually below the Arctic Circle.
- Every time you turn a corner in Iceland you either see a volcano, a waterfall, a river, a lake, or icebergs.
- The Golden Circle is not the circle we drove around the entire island, but instead a much smaller circle quite close to the city of Reykjavík.
- If you do happen to drive all the way to the eastern side of Iceland, there is a wonderful spot to see puffin as shown in my photos.
- I had to look this up, but the really long name of the volcano that erupted in 2010 and disrupted flights all over Europe is… Eyjafjallajökull.
- The warmest temperature ever recorded is 86.9°F in the coolest is -36.4°F. Don’t bother packing a bathing suit unless you plan on bathing in hot springs.
