Page 50 - Untamed Iceland

DEMOGRAPHICS & HISTORY

Iceland

Facts & Figures

• Area: 39,769 square miles

• Capital: Reykjavik

• Languages: 4NPWLYOTN T^ _SP ZʯNTLW WLYR`LRP& 0YRWT^S >NLYOTYLaTLY WLYR`LRP^ LYO
German are also spoken.

• Ethnicity: Norse/Celtic descent 94%, foreign-born 6%

• Location: Iceland is an island bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean.

• Geography: Poised atop the geologically active mid-Atlantic Ridge, where tectonic plates
are separating as Europe drifts away from North America, Iceland is one of only two
places in the world where an undersea mid-ocean ridge rises above sea level. Iceland’s
3,088 miles of coastline are punctuated by numerous rugged fjords, while some 63
percent of the mountainous interior is treeless tundra.

• Population: 348,450 (estimate)

• Religions: Lutheran Church of Iceland 73.8%, Roman Catholic 3.6%, Reykjavik Free
Church 2.9%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 2%, The Independent Congregation 1%, other
$ YZYP ! LYO `Y^[PNTʭPO "

• Time Zone: 4NPWLYO T^ ZY @?. ɭ2]PPYbTNS 8PLY ?TXPɮ ʭaP SZ`]^ LSPLO ZQ @ > 0>?
When it is 6am in Washington D.C., it is 11am in Reykjavik.

National Holidays: Iceland

In addition to the holidays listed below, 05/01 Labor Day
Iceland celebrates a number of national
06/17 Icelandic Republic Day
holidays that follow a lunar calendar, such
L^ 0L^_P] ?Z ʭYO Z`_ TQ dZ` bTWW MP _]LaPWTYR 12/24 Christmas Eve
during these holidays, please visit www.
timeanddate.com/holidays. 12/25 Christmas Day

01/01 New Year’s Day 12/26 Second Day of Christmas

12/31 New Year’s Eve

Historical Overview of Iceland
Early History

50