X-Nico

9 unusual facts about Iceland


2008 Icelandic lorry driver protests

The 2008 Icelandic lorry driver protests were protests started by lorry drivers in Iceland through March−April 2008.

Árni Magnússon

The character Arnas Arnæus in Nobel prize-winner Halldór Kiljan Laxness's novel Iceland's Bell (Íslandsklukkan) is based on him; the novel concerns the manslaughter case against Jón Hreggviðsson, a farmer whose conviction was eventually reversed in part due to Árni and Vídalín's investigations.

Internationale Musische Werkstatt

The organizers of IMWe, known as teamers, are currently a group of scouts from Germany, Austria, Norway, Britain, Slovenia, Hungary and Iceland.

Keyta

Keyta was used instead of soap in Iceland before it was introduced there.

Leiðarhólmsskrá

In the 15th and 16th century the Icelandic Church had become the most powerful entity in the country, both economically and in military matters and had separate laws.

Lögberg

Lögberg, or Law Rock, was a rocky outcrop in south west Iceland, at the location for the assembly of the country's Althing parliament.

National Assembly of 1851

The Supreme Court of Iceland invalidated the results of the election on January 25, 2011 following complaints about several faults in how the election was conducted.

Náttfari

Náttfari escaped from Garðar Svavarsson with a slave and a woman when Garðar set sail to the Hebrides from his newfound land which he named Garðarshólmi, now known as Iceland, in the 9th century.

The Letting Go

It was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland and produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, who is known for his work with the Icelandic artist Björk.


342d Fighter Day Group

The enemy was on the defensive, and the American defensive outposts in the Atlantic (Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and Bermuda) were shifting to secondary roles.

Á Móti Sól

Most of Á Móti Sól's members come from, and continue to be based out of, the south Iceland region that includes the towns of Hveragerði and Selfoss, about 45 km SE of Reykjavik.

Airspeed Consul

The Consul saw service with small scheduled and charter airlines as feeder liners in Great Britain, and also Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, East Africa and Canada, and was the first type operated by Malayan Airways, the predecessor of Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

Andy Mutch

Mutch’s goal-scoring prowess was recognised by a call-up to the England B squad in 1989 - making three appearances against Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Auseklis Limbazi Theatre

Production of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Play Strindberg went to Belgium, Estonia and Lithuania, Sławomir Mrożek's At Sea travelled to Denmark, Iceland and Lithuania, Inga Abele's Dzelzzāle (Iron Weed) had its premiere in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Baldur Sigurðsson

Baldur Sigurðsson (born 24 April 1985) is an Icelandic footballer, former player for Norwegian Adeccoligaen club Bryne and Icelandic clubs Völsungur and Keflavík.

Battle Grand Prix

The courses also vary from blacktop to concrete, which lends to the feeling of driving in unique places like Toronto and Iceland.

Bone Symphony

The group consisted of Scott Wilk on lead vocals and synthesizer, Marc Levinthal (guitar, bass synthesizer and sequencer, drum machine, 808 programming) and keyboard artist Jacob Magnusson (Iceland).

City Star Airlines

City Star Airlines started operations on 28 March 2005 with one aircraft flying between Aberdeen, Scotland (Aberdeen Airport) and Oslo (Oslo Gardermoen Airport) in cooperation with and on the AOC of domestic airline Landsflug in Iceland.

Eistnaflug

Eistnaflug is an indoor festival situated in Neskaupstaður, a quaint little town located on the Norðfjörður fjord on the Eastern coast of Iceland, 700km away from Reykjavik

European Network Against Racism

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is an EU-wide network of NGOs in all European Union Member States and Iceland.

First cabinet of Davíð Oddsson

Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson replaced Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir as Minister of Social Affairs.

Flag of the Nordic Council

The Swan has enough wing feathers standing for the eight members and territories of the Council: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

Guðni Jónsson

He also published histories of the Flensburg school (1932), the Eimskipafélag Íslands shipping company (1939) and the University of Iceland (1961).

Hannes Sigurðsson

Hannes Þorsteinn Sigurðsson (born 10 April 1983 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic football player.

Harpalus anxius

In Europe, it is only absent in the following countries or islands: Andorra, the Azores, the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands, Crete, Cyclades, Cyprus, Dodecanese, the Faroe Islands, Franz Josef Land, Gibraltar, Iceland, Madeira, Malta, Monaco, the North Aegean islands, Norway, Novaya Zemlya, Portugal, San Marino, the Savage Islands, Sicily, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, and Vatican City.

Haukur Halldórsson

Haukur Halldórsson (The Hawk) was born 1937 in Reykjavík is an Icelandic artist and member of the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið.

Hidebound

During fairs and festivals in Reykjavík, Iceland, members of the general public where offered to help in making of the film by tracing their own style the people from these print-outs.

Hirtshals

It has also been possible since autumn 2010 to travel to Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands and to Seyðisfjörður on Iceland with Smyril Line.

Hofn Air Station

The Greenland, Iceland and United Kingdom air defense sector, better known as the GIUK gap, was routinely utilized by the Soviet Union's long range heavy bombers and maritime reconnaissance platforms as a transit point towards the Atlantic Ocean.

Iceland at the 1984 Winter Olympics

Iceland competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

Icelandic outvasion

In 2005 a group of Danish journalists found that Thor Björgólfsson, his father Björgólfur Guðmundsson and friend Magnús Þorsteinsson all have background in Russia, where they ran beverage businesses in the 1990s before moving to Iceland.

Jón Sveinsson

Jón "Nonni" Stefán Sveinsson (16 November 1857, near Akureyri - 16 October 1944, Cologne) was an Icelandic children's writer and member of the Society of Jesus.

Kalli Bjarni – Kalli Bjarni

Kalli Bjarni is the self-titled debut album composed of the songs performed by the Icelandic Idol Stjörnuleit winner Kalli Bjarni.

Magnús Eiríksson

Magnús Eiríksson (22 June 1806 in Skinnalón (Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla), Iceland – 3 July 1881 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was an Icelandic theologian and a contemporary critic of Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813–1855) and Hans Lassen Martensen (1808–1884) in Copenhagen.

MaJiKer

The album was recorded in Valgeir Sigurdsson's Greenhouse Studios, and in a remote summer house on a mountain in Laugarvatn, Iceland.

Möðrudalur

Möðrudalur is a farm settlement in Norður-Múlasýsla in Eastern Iceland, and the highest inhabited place in the country, at 469 m (1,539 ft) above sea level.

Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir

Nanna was raised in Garður, a town in southwestern Iceland where her bandmate and close school friend Brynjar Leifsson also resided.

Nepal eMission

Nepal eMission is a software from Nepal Software, Borgarnes, Iceland, used to record lectures and seminars.

Obrigado Saudade

Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, a former member of the Icelandic band Múm, makes a notable appearance in "Two, Three, Fall" and "Spain".

Olaf Tryggvason

In the 1190s, two sagas of Olaf Tryggvason were written in Iceland, by Oddr Snorrason and Gunnlaugr Leifsson.

Pétur Pétursson

Guðlaugur Pétur Pétursson (born 27 June 1959 in Akranes) is a retired Icelandic footballer who was active as a forward.

Reistu þig við, sólin er komin á loft...

Reistu þig við, sólin er komin á loft... has been sold out in Iceland for a while and has been sold in over 5000 copies all over the world, many of them on their Sigur Rós support tour in November 2008.

Reykholt, Southern Iceland

It is situated in the south of Iceland not far from Skálholt, Geysir and Gullfoss, and is a stop on the Golden Circle.

Second cabinet of Davíð Oddsson

Halldór Ásgrímsson replaced Guðmundur Kristján Bjarnason as Minister for the Environment and Minister of Agriculture.

Silfra

About 50 kilometers north of the Þingvallavatn Lake lies the home of Iceland's second largest glacier Lángjökull.

Skjálfandafljót

At the north end of Sprengisandur road, the river drops down 10 m over the waterfall Aldeyjarfoss, in the lowlands, very near Route 1 there is another waterfall, Goðafoss which is among the most famous waterfalls in Iceland.

Stefán Karl Stefánsson

Stefán Karl Stefánsson (born 10 July 1975 in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland) is an Icelandic film and stage actor who is best known for playing the character Robbie Rotten on the television show LazyTown.

Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson

In 2007 he participated with 2 entries : "Draumur" performed by Hreimur Örn Heimisson which did not qualify for the national final and with "Ég les í lófa þínum" performed by Eiríkur Hauksson which took first place and represented Iceland in Helsinki under the name "Valentine Lost".

The Laundromat Cafe

In 2010 two more cafés were opened, at Austurstræti 9, Reykjavík, Iceland and at Gammel Kongevej 96 Frederiksberg, Denmark.

There's a Star

Mark explains the original plan for the video: "We're off to Iceland to shoot it up in the mountains, imagine vast area covered in snow, think Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, we're all dressed Han Solo style with Rebel Alliance logos with rescue flares going up in the night and we're gonna comes across 'Snow Jawas'. Whilst Tim makes a quest across the snow scape searching for his "Flying V" just in time for the solo. How epic".

Third cabinet of Davíð Oddsson

Valgerður Sverrisdóttir replaced Finnur Ingólfsson as Minister of Commerce and Minister of Industry.

Thóra Arnórsdóttir

Her father Arnór Hannibalsson was a philosopher, and professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland.

Tom Wessels

In addition to teaching at Antioch, Wessels has traveled on expedition to Iceland with Haraldur Sigurdsson.

Turkish Abductions

This event is popularly known in Iceland as Tyrkjaránið – the 'Turkish Raid', as it was launched from areas within the Ottoman Empire, although no Turks are known to have been involved.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

In 1993 the work Mitt Folk commissioned by the British government by Oliver Kentish was dedicated to her as a gift from Britain to Iceland celebrating the 50th anniversary of the republic.

Violeta Chamorro

Chamorro was the first elected female head of state in the Americas, the second in the Western Hemisphere after Iceland's Vigdís Finnbogadóttir and the fifth in the world after the elections of Agatha Barbara in Malta, Elisabeth Kopp in Switzerland and Corazon Aquino in the Philippines.

W. D. Valgardson

Thor teikningar eftir Ange Zhang; Guðrun B. Guðsteinsdóttir,Íslenkaði—Seltjarnarnes Iceland: Ormstunga, 1996

Xavier Gil

Gil made his debut on 21 August 2002, coming on as a substitute for Justo Ruiz in a 3–0 friendly match defeat against Iceland.


see also

1948 Winter Olympics

Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Korea, and Lebanon all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games.

Akureyri Art Museum

Artists that have had their work displayed in the Akureyri Art Museum include Icelandic artists Erró, Kjarval and Louisa Matthíasdóttir, American artist Spencer Tunick, Israeli video artist Guy Ben-Ner and French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Angela Rawlings

As an arts educator, rawlings has led creative writing workshops for Ryerson University, terminus1525.ca, Learning through the Arts, League of Canadian Poets, Ontario Arts Council's Artists in Education Program, the Toronto District School Board, Writers in Electronic Residence, the Toronto Public Library system, the State Library of Queensland (Australia), Menningarverkefnið Hlaðan (Vogar, Iceland), and Listaháskólinn Íslands (Reykjavík, Iceland).

Bernard Bernard

Bernard Bernard (21 July 1821 in Mogues, France – 1895) was a French Catholic priest and missionary in Norway, Iceland and Scotland.

Dagsbrún

, as well as most of the Icelandic media company Norðurljós, making it the largest corporate network provider in Iceland, offering mobile and fixed telephony and high-quality data networking, with a large footprint in the residential broadband and TV market.

Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson

During the years leading up to his first solo release Daníel was heavily involved in Iceland’s contribution to the Venice Biennale in 2005.

Einarr Hafliðason

He became a priest in 1334 with the benefice of Höskuldsstaðir á Skagaströnd and in 1343 the Archbishop of Nidaros granted him Breiðabólstaður í Vesturhópi, one of the best farms in the region, in what is now Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla, in Northern Iceland.

First cabinet of Davíð Oddsson

Sighvatur Kristinn Björgvinsson replaced Jón Sigurðsson as Minister of Commerce and Minister of Industry.

H-dagurinn

H-dagurinn or Hægri dagurinn (Icelandic: H-day or Right day) on 26 May 1968 is the day that Iceland changed from left hand traffic to right hand traffic.

Hallgrímur Helgason

His best-known works are 101 Reykjavík, which was made into a popular film of the same name, Höfundur Íslands (The Author of Iceland), which won the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2001, and The Hitman's Guide to House Cleaning.

Harpalus affinis

In Europe, it is only absent in the following countries or islands: the Azores, the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands, Crete, Cyclades, Dodecanese, the Faroe Islands, Franz Josef Land, Gibraltar, Iceland, Madeira, Malta, Monaco, the North Aegean islands, Novaya Zemlya, San Marino, the Savage Islands, Sicily, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, and Vatican City.

Hraunhreppur

Hraunhreppur was formerly a rural parish (hreppur) in Mýrasýsla county, west Iceland.

Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Iceland was drawn to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014.

Kjartan Finnbogason

Kjartan Henry Finnbogason (born 9 July 1986 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Iceland international football player currently playing for KR in Iceland.

Kristján Örn Sigurðsson

Kristján Örn Sigurðsson (often spelled Sigurdsson) (born 7 October 1980 in Akureyri) is an Icelandic footballer.

Landvarnarflokkurinn

The founders of Landvarnarflokkurinn, who included Einar Benediktsson, Bjarni Jónsson and Jón Jensson, were the most radical fighters for Iceland's independence of that time.

Laugarnes

Later the Bishop of Iceland had his residence in Laugarnes (1826–1856) and in 1898 a leper hospital was erected there.

Luca Toni

He consequently gained his first cap for the Italian national team in a friendly match 18 August 2004 lost 2–0 to Iceland in Reykjavík, which also marked Marcello Lippi's debut at the helm of the Azzurri.

New Island

A transport vessel and a whale catcher arrived on 22 December and brought a decommissioned land station from Fáskrúðsfjörður in Iceland.

Randy Bolden

After his collegiate career ended, Bolden played professionally for teams in Iceland (Grindavík), Brazil (Londrina), and Canada (Saskatchewan Hawks).

RÚV

Gettu betur is a popular annual quiz tournament pitting teams from senior secondary schools around Iceland against each other in five rounds which are broadcast on radio and TV.

Símun Samuelsen

Símun Samuelsen (born 21 May 1985 in Vágur) is a Faroese football striker currently playing for HB Tórshavn after playing in Iceland for some years for Keflavik as a right or left winger but can also play as a second striker.

Skalla-Grímr

Skalla-Grímr did as his father directed, and when he arrived in Iceland, he discovered the casket had come ashore in the Mýrar district, near Borg.

Steingrímur

Steingrímur Steinþórsson (1893–1966), Prime Minister of Iceland from 14 March 1950 to 11 September 1953

Sulur

:For the mountain in Iceland, see Súlur.

The Laundromat Cafe

The Laundromat Cafe is the name of four cafés in Copenhagen, Denmark and Reykjavík, Iceland.

Wilhelm Junker

After a series of short journeys to Iceland (1869), Western Africa (1873), Tunis (1874) and Lower Egypt (1875), he remained almost continuously in eastern Equatorial Africa from 1875 to 1886, making first Khartoum and afterwards Lado the base of his expeditions.