Iceland

IcelandWhat do YOU know about

Iceland?

Þórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland

ColourfulReykjavík

ICELAND EXPRESS CITY BREAK

OK, you just head for the North Pole, and get outwhen you hear the northern penguins roar.

No, seriously. No elves, no igloos, no jetis.

Just nice people who know how to have fun.Welcome


• An island nation located in the North Atlantic Ocean(103.000 km2)• Europe’s second largest island, following Great Britain• Very dark during winter and very bright during summer


Fire Blue mountains

Ice


• Iceland first became inhabited around 874• Icelanders are descendants of Nordic and Gaelic people• People endured very harsh living conditions • Iceland was colonized by both Norway and Denmark between the years 1262-1944• Iceland got independence from Denmark in 1944• Independence Day is celebrated on June 17th


We lived in covered houses in Iceland until the end of the 19th century and even some people lived in those

houses in the beginning of the 20th century!

This Wikipedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 Þórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Chris_73

Snorri Snorrason

JÖKULSÁRSLÓN, a lagoon in the south of Iceland, coming from Europe´s biggest

glacier, VATNAJÖKULL


A volcanic eruption in Vatnajökull glacier in 1998


The center of Iceland is a mountainous highland area. People live in the coastal area around Iceland


You can shout as loud as you want to

Guðbjörn Guðbjörnsson


Map of Iceland


Because Iceland has got volcanoes it also has got a lot of:

1. Lava fields 2. Earthquakes3. Geothermal energy4. Natural hot springs5. Powerful rivers and

waterfalls


The Blue Lagoon, near the international airport. Iceland has taken advantage of its natural hot mineral-rich

water caused by volcanic activity, using the water to heat the houses in Iceland.

Photo: Chris HelgrenÞórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland

The Blue Lagoon, it´s really blue and you can´t see your toes in the water..

this Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 Þórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Chris_73

• Language: Icelandic• Population: 320.000 people (2008)• Capital: Reykjavík• Currency: Icelandic “króna”• Main industry: fishing and tourism


Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland


Hallgrímskirkja, our biggest church, 74.5m and it took 38 years to build it


Photo from the house of Parliament of Iceland, Alþingi, we can watch our politicians at work


The University of Iceland


The Reykjavík lake, in the center. Some winters, we can go skating there


Pure water – and a lot of it. We use it to drink and bath and also to heat our houses and produce electricity – with a

help from our many cascades.


Hydro-electric plant – at Kárahnjúkar, in the east of Iceland, the biggest and the newest.


www.danielbergmann.com/


http://www.danielbergmann.com/

• Iceland has many glaciers. They cover 11% of Iceland. •The biggest one is called Vatnajökull. It is the biggest glacier in Europe.


Winter trip on a glacier – tires 44 inches high


The main features are ice and volcanoes.


JUST DRIVE IN THE SNOW


The northern lights

Mike Richard


http://www.vagabondish.com/author/admin/

Geysir – what is that ?


River- cruises – you will get wet


The new years eve – never boring in Iceland


Purist language policy:Icelanders avoid loanwords and create new Icelandic words instead.

Can you guess what any of these words mean?

TÖLVA, FLATBAKA, NIÐURHALA, ÞYRLA…


Road by the sea, rather rough


The old sagas • Old Icelandic stories dating from the 11th century• They are about Nordic Vikings and kings• Written in Old Norse• Icelanders can still read them


Old traditional Icelandic food:

Þorramatur Þórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland


The Icelandic horse


Puffin


LóaThe bird that brings spring


The Icelandic sheep


Typical Icelanders…• …have to go outside if the sun is shining and buy an ice-cream !• …go often to the cinema.• …drink - only during the weekends…•…give very firm handshakes.• …often wear clothes made from sheep wool. • …believe that Iceland is the best country in the world !


• As in many other countries around the world, we in Iceland also have a President as our country´s representative. The last 12 years our President has been Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, his wife The first Lady of Iceland is Dorrit Moussaieff. She is from Israel .

• The President is choosen by public voting and the President has to be reelected every fourth year. There is how ever no limit for how long a person can be President.


Vigdís FinnbogadóttirVigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first woman worldwide to become a president in a republic country, she was elected in 1980. She was president in Iceland for 16 years which is the longest period anyone has been president in Iceland. Before, she taught French in Iceland.


Famous Icelanders

Even though we Icelanders are not many (320.000) we do have

several famous people


Halldór Laxness

Laxness is one of Iceland's most famous writers. He received the Nobel price of literature in 1955 and is well-known around the world.Laxness has put Iceland on the world map of writers.


Björk


Sigurrós


Mugison


BARÐI – Bang Gang


Ólafur Stefánsson


Eiður Smári Guðjónsen


TAKK FYRIRÞórleif Hjartardóttir University of Iceland

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Iceland