ICELAND Brooklyn DeWall Passport to the World Project - 2019/2020 Iceland’s Geography, Geology, and Climate ➢ Nordic island country in the ➢ 80% of the country is uninhabited North Atlantic ➢ Comprised mostly of glaciers and ➢ Population: 365,000 lava, with some sand, water, and a ➢ Area: 40,000 square miles small amount of pasture ➢ Most sparsely populated country in ➢ Home to hundreds of volcanoes; Europe about 30 active volcanic systems ➢ Temperate climate even though it’s just ➢ Much of the interior consists of outside the Arctic Circle; warmed by the sandy plateaus Gulf Stream ➢ Capital city: Reykjavik, home to over ➢ Winter average temperature of 30℉ ⅔ of the population ➢ Summer average temperature of 55℉ ➢ Other major cities: Kopavogur, Hafnarfjordur 2 Iceland’s People Iceland’s Politics ➢ Official Language: Icelandic ➢ English and Danish are widely understood and spoken; Polish is spoken by the local Polish community ➢ Ethnic Groups: 89% Icelandic, 5% Polish, 1% Lithuanian, 5% other ➢ Religion: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland 3 Foreign Relations, Economy, Currency, Agriculture ➢ Member of the UN, NATO, EFTA, Council of Europe, and OECD; strongest ties with the Nordic countries, Germany, the US, and Canada ➢ No standing army; lightly armed Coast Guard ➢ Not a member of the EU; independent monetary policy (krona) ➢ Economy depends heavily on fishing; recently diversifying to include software production, biotechnology, and finance; tourism sector is expanding ➢ Agriculture consists mainly of potatoes, green vegetables, mutton, and dairy products 4 ENERGY EFFICIENCY Renewable sources—geothermal and hydropower— provide effectively all of Iceland's electricity and around 85% of the nation's total primary energy consumption, with most of the remainder consisting of imported oil products. 5 ICELAND’S CULTURE Houses Clothing ➢ Turf houses until the middle ➢ Essentially the same as of 20th century (grass roofs) our winter wear ➢ These were replaced with ➢ Layers are important houses made of wood and ➢ Fleece, wool, sturdy corrugated iron clothing and boots for the ➢ Now, most houses are made of concrete to withstand all weather weather 6 ICELAND’S CULTURE Food Hobbies/Sports ➢ Important parts of Icelandic cuisine are ➢ The main traditional sport in Iceland is lamb, dairy, and fish, with the latter due to Glíma, a form of wrestling thought to Iceland being surrounded by ocean. have originated in medieval times. ➢ Skyr is also a staple food which is like greek ➢ Handball is said to be the national sport. yogurt, but with a milder flavor. ➢ Also popular sports: football, track and ➢ Fermented shark is one of the most popular field, and basketball. foods not just because it is part of the daily ➢ Most popular activities: mountain cuisine, but because it is a very special part climbing and hiking; skiing, of the Icelanders’ heritage. snowboarding, fishing, ice climbing, and ➢ Rye bread is also a well known dish most rock climbing commonly made with the help of bubbling ➢ Swimming is also popular, with many geysers 30 centimeters under the ground. geothermally heated outdoor pools 7 ICELAND The Land of Fire and Ice The Emstrua River Eyjafjallajokull - Most recently erupting volcano 8 Capital City of Reykjavic As part of this project, I completed the project book as well. Since it is impossible to include the book here, I scanned a couple of pages and put pictures of them here to show that I did the work. 9.