Iceland - "country of ice" or "ice country" - an island nation located in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean (northwest of Great Britain). The territory of the state consists of the island of Iceland, with an area of 103 thousand km2., And small islands around it.
Interesting facts about the country:
Reykjavik is the northernmost capital in the world.
Vatnajokull is a glacier in Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe.
Iceland's Parliament (Althing) is considered the oldest existing in the world.
Iceland is the largest island of volcanic origin.
More than 10% of the territory of Iceland is covered with glaciers (12 thousand km²).
A popular dish in Iceland (hakarl) is nothing more than rotten shark meat[11].
Hekla Volcano is the largest volcano in Europe.
The Dettifoss waterfall is the most powerful waterfall in Europe. It is 40 meters high and 100 meters wide.
The largest and longest river in Iceland is the Tjoursau (237 km).
Icelanders do not have surnames. In Iceland, a person is called by his own name, given at birth, with the addition of the name of the father (sometimes the mother), which corresponds to the Russian patronymic. For example, the Icelandic singer "Björk Gudmundsdottir" is literally "Björk, daughter of Gudmund", and the President of Iceland "Olafur Ragnar Grimsson" is "Olafur Ragnar, son of Grim"

Despite the name and the presence of glaciers, Iceland is by no means an Arctic country. The climate in the country is maritime, moderately cool, with strong winds, humid and changeable. The weather in Iceland is influenced by two sea currents (the warm North Atlantic, a continuation of the Gulf Stream, and the cold East Greenland) and Arctic drift ice, which accumulates on the northern and eastern coasts. July and August are the warmest months (up to +20 °C in Reykjavik in July). The average annual temperature on the southwest coast in Reykjavik is 5 °C, the average January temperature is -1 °C, July 11 °C. The corresponding figures on the north coast (in Akureyri) are 3 °C, -2 °C and 11 °C. The average annual temperature does not fall below +4 °C. Coastal waters are ice-free throughout the year. The exception is situations associated with the removal of polar ice in the north and east. Due to the significant improvement in the climate since the early 1920s, the drift of polar ice to the coast of Iceland occurred only once in 1965. The weather in this country changes dramatically, sometimes within a day, depending on the passage of cyclones eastward across the Atlantic Ocean. An Icelandic proverb says: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it will get worse." Dark time lasts from mid-November to the end of January. At this time, the height of the Sun at the moment of the highest climax does not exceed a few degrees (there is no polar night in Iceland). Throughout the summer in Iceland, "white nights", on June 21, the sun rises at 02:54 and sets at 24:02. December, unlike June, is the darkest month - daylight hours last no more than 5 hours.
The average annual precipitation is 1300–2000 mm on the southern coast, 500–750 mm on the northern coast, and over 3800 mm on the slopes of Vatnajokull and Myrdalsjokull open to the south.