101 Facts About Iceland

greetings of all the factors my name is Sam and today we're jetting off to the middle of the North Atlantic to learn all about the small yet enthralling land of Iceland where the descendants of pillaging Vikings will boast to you in perfect English about their low low crime rates the tables have officially turned Iceland has staggering amounts of offering the web delicious morsels of factual goodness which I simply cannot wait to sink my teeth into despite the looming specter of my horrendously correct pronunciations you've been warned but why is Iceland so exploding [Music] Watson where is new Iceland and what is my mum keep going there she's just going then come back with random food no idea sooo much a three those questions are going to be answered so grab your winter coats your snow shovels and your medieval Viking longboats so we can sail perilously through the knowlegde fjords of 100:1 fact about iceland number one iceland is a lovely little nordic island country located in the north atlantic just chillin by itself miners own business sipping some gin and juice Iceland's nearest international neighbors are Greenland to the west the Faroe Islands and Norway to the east and the UK an island to the southeast with the Arctic Ocean directly to the north and the rest is all Atlantic Ocean baby number two the island that's now Iceland was thrust up above the surface of the Atlantic by a series of massive volcanic eruptions that occurred somewhere between 18 and 50 million years ago which geologically speaking of course makes Iceland a fairly young island since its formation all those millions of years ago Iceland has been uninhabited by humans until relatively recently and thus begins the history of Iceland hold on it's gonna be a bumpy ride it's gonna be a bumper it is a matter of figurative number three you may have been surprised to learn that the first people to inhabit the island of Iceland may not have been those crazy Vikings we've all heard about while the marauding Scandinavians have certainly the founders of the nation of Iceland it's believed that as early as the 8th century the island had previously been inhabited by a small number of Irish monks known to the north as Papa who traveled to the harsh Rocky Isle in search of isolation and solitude in order to devote themselves more fully to God not before however when the North started rocking up to the island the Papa decided they didn't fancy hanging around with a bunch of scandi heathens with the audacity to worship several girls instead of just the one which is obviously the correct number and Saudis irritable Irish Hermits packed up and cleared off leaving the Norse to get stuck in with setting up Iceland as a in bonafide country still it should be noted the much of what's now known about the Papa comes from documents written hundreds of years after the events I described so while experts are fairly sure that Iceland's first inhabitants what Irish Christians may be not just saying number five the very first Scandinavian to set foot on the island now known as Iceland is believed to be the North ferraris dude named nerd or hoop Aaron he was just minding his own business on his way back to Norway from the Faroe Islands in 861 when he sailed severely off-course like severely severely somehow nadir ended up bumping into Iceland where he decided to stay over the summer number six after finding no other people on the island and a door simply got back to his boat and left but not before naming the island snail endorsed Noland because it was snowing at the time of his departure real created then to do a good job good job bud number seven at some point in the eight 60s the Swedish Viking Explorer Carrasco vaasam decided it would be a right laughs to sail around Iceland just to make sure it was def own Island and in doing so he became the first person to circumnavigate Iceland he then decided to call the island garage all me after himself because that's just hunk of raw rolls baby number eight in 870 another Scandinavian fellow named blocky Villiger roarson set out for Iceland despite not really having an exact idea of its location in order to overcome this predicament Villiger olson brought with him three Ravens which are apparently very good at finding barren Islands in the middle of the North Atlantic news to me anyway when he released the Ravens the first flew towards the Faroe Islands while the second simply flew up in the air before returning to the boats the third however flew toward Iceland leading the wave of Ilkka Ross Turner leading him to be nicknamed raft in a flock key or raven flock II number 9 at some point following his arrival on the island Volga roarson beheld a few old completely covered with ice in the middle of spring after which he decided to refer to his temporary home as Iceland again the Vikings were particular creative when he came to naming places but the title stuck and there's not really much we can do about it now personally I would have called it Lawrence land after the world's most beautiful yet down to earth and totally normal and chill celebrity Jennifer Lawrence number 10 while the title of the first permanent inhabitant of Iceland isn't definitively known it's generally believed that the permanent settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 with the arrival of Norwegian chieftain in goal for an arson he was then followed by various other Norwegians and Scandinavians along with slaves known as frauds who were generally Irish or Scottish number 11 by nine-thirty these early ice lenders had decided to get their act together and form the very first alvin key a legislative and judicial assembly held in the plains of what is now thing vit Lear National Park this meeting of tribal leaders known in English as the old thing essentially constituted the foundation of the Icelandic Commonwealth thereby making Iceland a legit nation mazelTov number 12 as mentioned the first Icelanders were filthy pagans who worshipped the Norse gods but all that began to change when Christian missionaries turned up and set about trying to convert everyone though these efforts were initially met with limited success pressure from Norwegian Kings eventually led to a growing Christian population in Iceland which predictably provoked tension with the resident pagan sparking fears of Anna coming civil war number 13 luckily a war between Iceland's pagans or Christians was averted in the year 1000 when a guy called Thor gear Thorkelson bright name was accepted to serve as an arbiter for the conflict after day of rest and contemplation Thorkelson decided that Iceland would adopt Christianity with the stipulation that private pagan worship would be tolerated and with that Iceland became a Christian nation number 14 the period between the 11 20s and 12 30s within Iceland is often virtue as the great age of writing as it was during this time that most of the Icelandic sagas were written these now are toasts mostly concerned historical events that occurred in the previous centuries especially genealogical and family histories examples include is lending a book or the book of Icelanders written in Irvan 30 by re thor Gilson as well as time sprinkler or the history of the Norwegian kings richard around 12:30 by noted icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson number 15 the Icelandic Commonwealth lasted until the 13th century when internal conflicts between the various Icelandic chieftains erupted it into violence while Norway continued its campaign to bring Iceland under its control this volatile period and Icelandic history is known as the age of the sterlings after one of the islands most powerful family clans number 16 this period ended in 1262 with the signing of the old covenant when the Icelanders finally agreed to submit to Norwegian ruled in the hope that would bring peace to the country as such while the old thing continued to be held its role became that of a court justice rather than a legislative assembly number 17 this period of Norwegian laughter until 1397 when Iceland became a region within the kalmar union would united the kingdoms Norway Sweden and Denmark along with various other territories under their control under Danish rule calamine union sounds like it should be a chart-topping EDM group but alas was merely a personal union of three Scandinavian countries during the late medieval period disappointing number 18 while Iceland was spared during the outbreak of the horrific Black Death pandemic that ravaged Europe during the 13 40s and 50s the disease eventually made its way to the island in 1402 with devastating results some estimates suggest that as many as two-thirds of Icelanders perished reducing the population to as little as thirty thousand people number 19 well at least I didn't have to go through all that again only 90 years later a psyche that's exactly what happened when the plague returned for outbreak numero dos in 1494 claiming the lives of as many as half of the Icelandic population basically 15th century Iceland fully sucked I would not recommend number 20 after the breakup with the Camargue Union in 1523 that didn't even do a second album Iceland remained under Danish rule as part of the state for Denmark Norway a few years later in the 1550s king Christine the third of Denmark began to impose Lutheranism on his subjects as part of the prospect of formation and Lutheranism has remained Iceland's favourite flavour of religion ever since number 21 throughout the 17th and 18th centuries Denmark imposed harsh trade restrictions on Iceland making the already fairly difficult lives of those living in Iceland even difficult her as if that wasn't bad enough in 1627 Barbary pirates raided Iceland's coastal settlements and abducted large numbers of people to be sold into slavery and events known in Iceland as Turkey unnethe meaning the Turkish trade damned Iceland really annoyed the Norse gods when they all converted to Christianity didn't they non-stop hassle number 2200 Iceland so yeah it wasn't always fantastic being Icelandic but luckily I can tell you for sure that Iceland definitely wasn't it by the plague for a third time kinder because it was hit by a smallpox epidemic in 1707 that killed around a third of the population they can't catch a break these guys moving on number 23 things finally started to get better around 1783 when I stand experienced in economic boom and Psyche got you again while there was certainly a boom in Iceland in 1783 it was it's an economic and more volcanic boom in nature as it was the year in which the lucky volcano in southern Iceland continuously erupted over a period of eight whole months ejecting roughly forty two billion tons of larvae in addition to all that extremely dangerous and destructive molten rock Laki also spewed out enormous quantities of hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide which if you didn't know already a super poisonous you guys number 24 these compounds contaminated Iceland soil obliterating the vast majority of Iceland's crops and killing roughly half of all livestock which in turn triggered a famine that claimed the lives of up to 25 percent of the population the amount of sulfur dioxide released by the luckier option was so significant that it literally lowered global temperatures caused crop failures in Europe and droughts in North Africa and India resulting in even further deaths the years after the eruption came to be known as some over Holland in all the missed hardships number 25 in 1814 following the Napoleonic Wars Denmark Norway was broken up according to the Treaty of KL and while Norway entered into a union with Sweden Norway his dependencies of Greenland the Faroe Islands and Iceland remained in the union with Denmark now instead of being ruled by Norway who were ruled by Denmark Iceland's constitutional setup was streamlined so it was just world over by Denmark number 26 throughout the 19th century Iceland's climate continued to grow colder prompting mass emigration to the new world to the tune of roughly 15,000 people over 20% of the country's population of 70,000 a large number of those emigrating from Iceland settled in the region of Gimli Manitoba in Canada and as such the area is often referred to as new Iceland number 27 following the restoration of the all thing to its previous legislative function in 1845 a desire for Icelandic independence began to emerge in the 1850s inspired by similar movements in mainland Europe and the work of Icelandic intellectuals the political push for further Icelandic economy was led by a fellow named young citizen and in 1870 four or five years before citizens death Denmark granted Iceland a constitution and limited Home Rule which was further expanded in 1904 number 28 not only that on the first of December 1918 an agreement with Denmark known as the Danish Icelandic act of Union was signed recognizing Iceland as a fully sovereign and independent state in a person union with Denmark with the opportunity to vote on the arrangement 25 years in the future this made Iceland's legal position somewhat similar to those of countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations like New Zealand or South Africa number twenty-nine with the onset of the Second World War Iceland was left in a vulnerable position located halfway between Europe in the United States with no army or Navy Oh following Germany's invasion of neutral Denmark Iceland's possessing country the United Kingdom felt it necessary to occupy Iceland in order to prevent the Germans from doing it themselves and so on the 10th of May 1940 in direct violation of Iceland's neutrality the UK carried out operation fork constituting the british invasion and occupation of iceland not long after that that you came by to the us to occupy iceland instead so that british forces could be used elsewhere number thirty on the 31st of december 1943 during Iceland's occupation the Danish Icelandic active union expired after 25 years and several months later in May of 1944 Iceland has participate in a four-day pleb asserts in which over 95% of the population voted to end the personal union with Denmark abolished the monarchy and establish a republic and so on the 17th of June 1944 Iceland formally became a republic with fayan bjornsen as its very first president after almost 700 years of being ruled over by other nations Iceland was finally fully independent once more number 31 in the 1960s Iceland expanded ever so slightly with the arrival of wait for it a whole new island yes on the 14th of November 1963 huge clouds of dark smoke billowed out of the ocean just south of Iceland's vest Minea archipelago off its southern coast and within several days a solid Island had formed as a result of you guessed it volcanic activity real original Iceland number 32 the eruptions continued until June of 1976 wrong way round by which time the new landmass covered an area of 2.7 square kilometres the island which was dubbed Surtsey after Surtur a fire yo tun or giant from Norse mythology has since eroded down to a more modest size of around 1.3 square kilometers nabiru 30 ka between the late 50s and mid 70s Iceland that was engaged in a number of confrontations with United Kingdom known as the cod Wars in which the do nations battled over fishing rights in the North Atlantic this period saw numerous instances of violence between haulers and warships with British military vessels ramming into Icelandic fishing ships and the Icelandic Coast Guard frequently sabotaging the Nets of British trawlers using a specialized net cutter arms were threatening to leave NATO Iceland eventually emerged victorious with a massively expanded exclusive fishery zone resulting in significant job losses amongst British fishing communities number 34 following the privatization of its banks at the turn of the millennium Iceland's banking sector collapsed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis relative to the size of its economy Iceland's banking collapse was the largest of any country in economic history while many other nations chose to bail out their banks Iceland opted to let them fail then Institute a social welfare and debt forgiveness programs for its citizens and convicted corrupt bankers only a few years later the IMF declared that Iceland's economy had recovered without compromising its welfare model number 35 in 2010 they constantly exploding island of Iceland experienced further volcanic eruptions at oh my lord a Fe at a Yoko toll a stratovolcano covered entirely by one of the country smaller ice caps as you probably gathered volcanic eruptions in Iceland aren't particularly out of the ordinary and the eruptions themselves weren't particularly large however the ash cloud produced by the volcano was chuffing massive with rock and ash sent up nine kilometers into the atmosphere which then spread across almost all of Europe and parts of North America Asia and the Atlantic number 36 since volcanic ash can cause significant damage to aircraft engines the a a flat yo-yo Kotal eruptions caused major disruptions to air travel across pretty much the entire European continent roughly 107 thousand flights were canceled as a result ruining the travel plans of roughly 10 million passengers four weeks after the eruptions and what was the largest air traffic shutdown since the Second World War thanks Iceland number 37 today Iceland is a highly developed nation economically and democratically ranks highly in terms of social stability and equality and in 2018 was ranked as the world's sixth most developed country by the United Nations Human Development Index while Iceland is not a member of the European Union it is a member of the European free trade association and the European Economic Area granting it access to the EU s internal markets number 38 politically Iceland is a unitary parliamentary republic rated as a full democracy by the economic intelligence unit the very least that has that going for it in fact actually Iceland is ranked as the second most democratic nation on the planet after its old man Norway number 39 given that Iceland's legislature the all thing has existed in some form since the in 930 it's arguably the oldest existing parliamentary system in the world at well over 1,000 years old Norway's Parliament known in english as distorting isn't even 200 years old right now number 40 in 1980 iceland voted to make victus finn but a Finn Booker has hit the road new finn rigged is finn burger tear their fourth president making her the world's first democratically directly elected female president serving from the 1st of august 1982 the first of august 1996 a span of exactly 16 years she also remains the longest-serving elected female head of state in any country to date number 41 not only that on the 1st of February 2009 Johanna suger ordered here became Iceland's first female president and the world's first openly gay head of government hurray for lesbians are within demonetized planet the meaning of life possibly one of Iceland's most commendable achievements is that it's been ranked the world's most peaceful nation over ten years in a row Iceland keeps banging its self-assemble accolade based on its extremely low crime rates and its relatively low levels of economic equality which I believe generally leads to less riots revolutions and whatnot number 43 Iceland is so peaceful in fact that many criminals have put on a waiting list for prison because the country doesn't have enough available prison cells not only that if a person waits over five years to be sent to prison their sentence is voided and they don't have to go number 44 indeed only one person has been killed by armed police in Iceland since it became an independent republic in 1944 when a 59 year old man from Reykjavik was shot after firing at police in late 2013 later dying in hospital number 45 the Icelandic special forces which is the country's elite counterterrorism unit is also known as the Viking of 18 which translates to the Viking squad number 46 Iceland's military consists almost entirely of the Icelandic Coast Guard and is the only NATO country that does not maintain a standing army Iceland's regular police officers do not carry guns as there is very little crime in Iceland and violent crime is practically non-existent number 47 still in conflict with its peaceful mutation Iceland was involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq the world's most peaceful nation sent a grand total of two soldiers who were explosive ordnance disposal soldiers number 48 Iceland also boasts considerable credentials as one of the world's most environmentally friendly nations with roughly 85 percent of the country's energy consumption coming from renewable sources nice Iceland electricity supply specifically is produced almost entirely from renewable energy sources with around 70 percent coming from hydropower and the remaining 30 percent coming from geothermal power number 49 around 98 percent of Icelanders are connected to the Internet the most of any country on earth so you Icelanders have no excuse not to watch this video and share it with your Icelandic buddies share it share it number 50 according to research carried out in 2013 by the World Economic Forum Iceland could also be the world's friendliest nation specifically Iceland has stated that they were happy to welcome foreign visitors to their country at a higher rate than anywhere else on earth number 51 Iceland's capital and largest city by far is wreak havoc on the southern shore a factor Floyd Bay the city of Reykjavik has a population of just under 130,000 people while the metropolitan area of Greater wreak havoc is home to roughly 230,000 meaning that just under two-thirds of the Icelandic population live in an area just over 1% of the total size of the country number 52 the Icelandic capital gets its name from the region's hot springs as red cubic loosely translates to smoke Cove early Iceland is apparently didn't know the difference between smoke and steam and their foolish mistake has since been preserved forever in the title of their nation's capital to their eternal shame number 53 owing to Iceland's position in the North Atlantic rekka make is the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state Greenland's capital of nuk is more north but as Greenland is not a sovereign state but an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark it loses out in the most northern capital city competition better luck next time nuke number 54 Reykjavik is also the only capital city in the world home to colonies of puffins and that such is sometimes referred to as the puffin capital of the world indeed Iceland in general is home to 60% of the world's total puffin population and as my grandma used to say that's a lot of puffins number 55 in the year 2010 Icelandic stand-up comedian John Na thought it might be a lark to run for the position of their wreck Vick which he did mostly as a satirical dig to the political establishment who many blame for the financial crisis in 2008 he ran on a number of sarcastic campaign promises such as free access to swimming halls for everyone a Disneyland in the capital airport and to stop corruption by openly participating in it while also promising to break all his campaign promises if elected amazingly nah ended up winning the mayoral election and did indeed break many of his promises number 56 Iceland sits atop the upper section of the mid-atlantic ridge the Earth's longest mountain range that stretches from the Arctic Ocean all the way down under the Atlantic Ocean to well past the southern tip of Africa the upper section of the mid-atlantic ridge forms a boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates which is why Iceland is so volcanic the active and constantly spewing out lava and ash and poisonous gases like it's going out of style which I hear it is number 57 as such the island of Iceland is split across the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and the previously mentioned Valley of thing that Leah where the first all thing was convened is one of only two places on earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be seen on land the other being the afar triangle in Africa number 58 the plates at thing that Leah are moving apart at the lightning pace around 2 centimeters a year so do be careful where you're stepping over mad enough to visit number 59 the main island of Iceland covers an area of almost 102 thousand square kilometers making it the world's 18th largest island and Europe's second-largest island are to Great Britain including Iceland of the smaller islands the entire country measures up in a slightly larger 103 thousand square kilometers a little smaller than the US state of Ohio number 60 it's worth noting that Iceland only has a population of just over 360,000 people factoring in Iceland's area of 103 thousand square kilometers that makes Iceland the most sparsely populated nation in Europe with less than 3 inhabitants per square kilometer approximately 90% of the Icelandic population lives on the coast number 61 the entirety of mainland Iceland lies just south of the Arctic Circle however the island of grimsey situated about 40 kilometres off the north coast of the mainland currently lies right on the boundary with the northern tip of the island poking into the Arctic like a finger in a pie but you shouldn't do that finger pies guys number 62 despite the fact that Iceland stands with its nose pressed up against the windows of the Arctic Circle the island that enjoys a relatively mild climate due to a little thing known as the Gulfstream a warm current without which Iceland would be much colder and probably uninhabitable as such Iceland's average winter temperature is 2 degrees Celsius for America that's 36 degrees Fahrenheit number 63 as has been made abundantly clear several times already in this video Iceland is volcanic Lee and geologically active there are as many as 130 volcanic mountains in the country of which around 30 are still very active indeed numerous others could easily awaken from their slumber and become active as the island changes and grows Lin Tendo 64 indeed Iceland experiences a significant volcanic eruption roughly every three to four years it's like their Olympics only it's really not at all not even slightly realer than why I said it selling me out number 65 as you are likely aware Iceland is known around the world for the bold and striking beauty of its harsh environment the interior regions of the island consist of a plateau characterized by moody lava field traumatic mountains and stunning places of the islands total land area about 62.7% is tundra while only 23% is vegetated number 66 Iceland is also home to VAT no yolk at all the largest glacier in Europe indeed the glacier is actually larger than all other glaciers in Europe combined so suck on that rest of Europe number 67 burner yolk atoll lends its name to fatten a yogurt or National Park which includes the entirety of the aforementioned glacier and the extensive surrounding areas this park also includes incredibly difficult to pronounce ah ok ok well a downtick or the highest peak in Iceland which measures up at 2110 metres tall number 68 ice is also known for its distinctive lack of trees which you can probably imagine is because humans showed up and started chopping them all down when the Vikings arrived in Iceland and started setting up shop over 1,100 years ago forests covered somewhere between 25 and 40 percent of the island today despite considerable reforestation efforts that figure is down to less than 2 percent number 16 predictably Iceland's harsh climate and geography limits the extent of its plant in animal wildlife indeed the adorable little arctic fox is the only mammal that's native to the island number 70 not only that Iceland is apparently the only country on earth with virtually zero mosquitoes which were me personally is therefore massive Plus mosquitoes can do one number 71 Iceland is home to the Icelandic horse a special breed that was developed for animals brought over Iceland during the nation settlement in the 9th and 10th centuries aside from being slightly smaller on average than many other horse breeds Icelandic horses also displayed two additional gates as compared to other Aquin varieties known as tolt and sky o which I'm sure is impressive to people who know a lot about horses number 72 Iceland is so strict about the purity of its horses that once an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland it can never be brought back bit harsh but hey get it hey because that's what horses are nevermind it's wasted on you number 73 the Icelandic language is most closely related to Faroese and Western norwegian dialects though it's not mutually intelligible with these languages in the same way that norwegian swedish and danish are with each other icelandic is also far more linguistically conservative than many other Western European languages that means it's changed relatively little since developing from old North's as a result Icelandic speakers are generally able to read classic old norse literature written around a thousand years ago with relative ease number 74 Icelandic is also unique in that it's the only living language to retain the use of this runic letter known as the lesser thorn can find it in the Latin script number 75 the white geezer is one of the few words in English that derives miced landok originating from the name of a geezer called gasser located in huka dollar in southwestern Iceland the name K Seiya itself comes from Icelandic verb gasser which means to gush haha gross number 76 strangely for a Western nation the vast majority of Icelanders do not have a family surname instead surnames in Iceland are usually patronymic formed by fusing the first name of one's father with the word son or 2-tier depending on the individuals gender matron emic names formed in the same way but using the mother's name rather than the father's are less common but occasionally used would you reckon though would you'd like to change your surname like this or do you like what you got already let us know in a snazzy youtube's hull go on you can do it number 77 probably as a result of its unique linguistic heritage Iceland retains strict laws and what names parents can give to their children in order to preserve the purity of the Icelandic language there's even an organization known as the Icelandic naming committee which maintains an official register of approved Icelandic first names and either approves or rejects the introduction of new ones into Icelandic culture number 78 Iceland's traditional cuisine included likes of whale fried fish roast sheep's head and even pickled Rams testicles nice one of Iceland's most well-known and perhaps infamous dishes it's a car which is the meat of the greenlandic shark that's been fermented and hung up to dry for several months now Carl is processed in this way because the fresh meat of the greenlandic shark is extremely poisonous if you shouldn't eat it then this is owing to its high concentrations of uric acid and trimethylamine oxide which serve as a natural antifreeze to protect the animal from becoming a sharp popsicle and its frigid habitats edible I guess number 79 I feel as though I would be remiss in my duties as the voice of 101 facts for not to mention that her Carl was 1 subscriber the late great celebrity chef Antony boudin as the single worst most disgusting and terrible tasting thing he had ever eaten number 80 another one of us in Seneca sees his raw puffin heart yeah okay I'm just gonna move up number 81 to be fair the extent to which the average I slammed a regularly chows down on bird hearts toxic shark and a nice right Ram nut it's likely to be somewhat overstated indeed one of the most popular foods in Iceland is some was unexpectedly hotdogs icelandic hot dogs differ in that they are usually made from lamb and are often served at the brown mustard called this as well as remoulade a sauce made with mayo capers mustard and herbs number 82 in Iceland there is a traditional bread known as root brah row that's traditionally baked by bearing it in the ground near a hot spring number 83 shockingly shockingly I say beer was illegal in Iceland until 1989 beer had been banned in Iceland throughout much of the 20th century in part due to temperance movements similar to those seen in other countries which sought to restrict the consumption of beer on moral grounds additionally beer was often associated with Denmark and as such was often thought of as unpatriotic during the country's movement towards independence number 84 Iceland boasts the highest consumption of Coca Cola per capita in any country on earth once again as a result of its low population that makes per capita record-setting much much easier damn in Iceland damn it number 85 Iceland's national sport is handball a quirky little pastime popular throughout the Nordic nations as well as Germany France and Spain handball is sort of similar to football but wall handball is an illegal move in football in handball handball is the name of the sport hand balled you got it there you go there some facts about handball number 86 another of Iceland's popular sports is known as glimmer a form of Nordic folk wrestling that originated in Iceland way back in the 14th century the most common form of glimmer is known as Broker talk or trams a grip which originally had competitors attempt to throw their opponent to the ground by grabbing onto their trousers a practice that's widely found upon in most sensible societies nowadays trouser yanking has been replaced with the use of special belts which provide various gripping points for the wrestlers without the risk of having a pants are pulled down number 87 in its 80-year history participation in the Olympics Iceland has won a grand total of four medals a bronze in judo and bronze and a silver in athletics and a silver in handball zero gold though and also Iceland has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics but I think their times coming up baby number 88 one of Iceland's most popular and well-known attractions is the Blue Lagoon a geothermal spa located in lava field near the town of Gwynn Davich you may be shocked to learn that's unlike many of the other spas located throughout Iceland the Blue Lagoon is actually manmade and it's soothing waters are technically the waste product of the nearby geothermal power plant oh ok number 89 the Blue Lagoon gets its characteristic milky blue color from the high levels of silica which forms a rich mud at the bottom of the pool that's apparently good for your skin I should point out though that's not true of all mud and to learn that hard way number 90 wonderfully joyously and fabulously Iceland's capital of Reykjavik is home to walk one can only assume is one of the world's most fronting centres of Education the Icelandic phallological Museum for those of you not savvy to the meaning of the word phonological analysis tuddy of dongs yes the CP town of Reykjavik is the location of a museum dedicated to Whang which contains the world's largest collection of pork swords numbering at over 215 specimens from wide variety species including whales polar bears seals walruses dogs cats goats hamsters and yes even a human number 91 apparently around 60% of visitors to the Icelandic phallological Museum which I hasten to remind you - museum dedicated to you know hmm are women what'd you do with that information is between you and your god frankly number 92 hilariously Iceland has such a small population that's in 2013 a group of Icelandic software developers crated an app that allows first nice lenders to check an online genealogical database in order to make sure that any potential partners are not too closely related to them yes that's right a way to avoid an accidental gameofthrones scenario number 93 Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country on the planet not only that roughly one in ten ice lenders will publish a book in their lifetime number ninety four books are so important in Icelandic culture that is even part of Christmas celebrations as most new books are typically published towards the end of the year this is known in Iceland as the Yola baka flows which literally translates of the Christmas book flood books are traditionally exchanged on Christmas Eve and you spend the rest of the night reading number 95 Iceland is one of the few nations on earth but a single McDonald's despite the fact that it has KFC and even a Taco Bell weirdly enough Iceland did used to have a McDonald's in its cups all of Reykjavik but owing to the financial crisis as well as your slender glory to their own native burger chain hamburger a bulam the nation's only golden arches closed in 2008 number 96 apparently 54% of Icelanders state that they either believe in elves or believe it's possible that elves exist believe in elves is so common it sometimes affects government work with planned road being redirected to avoid too potent for elf habitats yeah I sure hope it does Iceland even has an official elf school in Reykjavik where people can learn about Icelandic elf history and folklore number 97 following the financial crisis in 2008 constitutional reforms were initiated in Iceland that included allowing the nation's public to make suggestions and alterations by a plucky milk as a result the draft constitution was widely referred to as the world's first crowd-sourced constitution number 98 Iceland's oldest and largest higher education institution it's the University of Iceland founded in 1911 in the nation's capital of Reykjavik the University had earned itself a place in this delightful video you're watching because it's the haunting statue that stands outside its main building which appears to depict a man attacking a seal with a Bible rude the man in question is same endear frui an Icelandic scholar born in the 11th century while the seal is actually the devil who he's beating in order to get out of handing over his soul after agreeing to exchange it for ride home to Iceland number 99 babies in Iceland are often left outside to not even of sub-zero temperatures based on the general belief that cold fresh air strengthens the immune system it's up to uncommon for parents to leave their infants outside while they sit drinking coffee in their local cafe number 200 in 2010 Iceland bans strip club constituting the first such ban in a Western democratic country the battle strip clubs in Iceland was regarded as a win for women's rights my famous groups while I'm sure some people not myself included because I don't live in Iceland were very very sad number 101 Iceland has no public railway system but any kind making the pastime of Trainspotting in the country especially difficult good luck gang that was one hunter on the facts about Iceland have you ever been to Iceland do you live in Iceland let me know down below be sure to give this video a like and describe - one more fact have you done so already all the cool kids have and at this point you're just missing out also tell us what you want to see next in the meantime though look at these two videos on screen now one of them has been cooked up especially for you why not click on one of these and see which one it is I'm even mentioning your name in it maybe like now how much you name now like if it's John or Karen or something I might do that same thing in the end board for another video who knows see you there bye

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Keywords: 101 facts, 101, 101facts, iceland, iceland facts, facts about iceland, scandanavia, reykjavik, blue lagoon, tourism iceland, gulfoss falls, europe, vik, iceland eurovision, iceland vlog, iceland 4k, iceland drone, greenland, denmark, norway, finland, nordic, nordic countries, icelandic, iceland history, iceland vikings, vikings, iceland holiday, iceland travel, iceland country, iceland airport, iceland attractions, christmas, iceland christmas, travel, vlog

Id: qJh8NwE4wNo

Length: 34min 21sec (2061 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 23 2019