Apollo astronauts trained in Iceland because it was felt that the terrain would most resemble the surface of the moon.
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The parliament of Iceland, established in 930, is the oldest active parliament in the world.
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Beer was illegal in Iceland until March 1, 1989. Now, the date is celebrated every year in Reykjavik as Bjordagur, or Beer Day.
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In Iceland, you can hand-draw a map on a piece of mail without an address, and it will still make it to its destination.
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Some historians believe that Columbus visited Iceland's Snaefellsnes Peninsula in 1477 and there learned of Viking explorations of the New World.
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Iceland's population is smaller than that of Anaheim, California.
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About 300,000 pedestrians, the population of Iceland, pass through Times Square every day.
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It's illegal in Iceland for parents to threaten children with fictional characters.
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Iceland was the most peaceful place on Earth for six years straight since 2010, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.
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Iceland severed ties to Denmark and became an independent republic only in 1944.
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Iceland has more books published and read per person than anywhere else in the world.
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Germany, Denmark, Iceland and other countries have official rules about what a baby can be named.
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Iceland and the Faroe Islands are the only countries in the world where there are no mosquitoes.
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Icelandic has changed so little in the last 1,000 years that Icelanders today can easily read 12th-Century texts.
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Strip clubs and lap dances are banned in Iceland.
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In Iceland, up until 1987 there was no television at all on Thursdays.
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Iceland is very depressed: it has the world's highest rate of antidepressant use.
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In 2011, Iceland used Facebook to rewrite its constitution, as 2/3 of its population is on it.
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Iceland has Europe's largest banana plantation.
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Iceland is the only NATO member with no standing army. Its lightly armed coast guard is in charge of defense.
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The Icelandic for 'sleep' is sofa.
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Iceland imports ice cubes.
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18.3% of Iceland's population uses cannabis, placing them as the top marijuana consuming nation in the world.
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Iceland's last McDonald's burger was sold in 2009. You can watch it decompose online.
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The only native land mammal when humans arrived to Iceland was the Arctic fox.
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Iceland has one of the largest gun ownership rates in the world and one of the lowest crime rates as well.
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Iceland has more volcanoes than professional soccer players.
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When Iceland's soccer team reached the quarter-final of the 2016 Euro Cup, 10% of Iceland's population traveled to France for the game.
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Iceland lost most of its trees more than a thousand years ago,
in the hands of Viking settlers who razed the forests.
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The UK invaded and occupied Iceland in WW2 after the country claimed neutrality.
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90% of Iceland's female population went on strike on October 24, 1975, demanding equal rights. They did not work, do housework, or look after their kids for an entire day.
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Iceland and Finland have the lowest infant mortality rate in the world.
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Every year, Iceland gets wider by two centimetres.
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Iceland has an official book-buying season - Jólabókaflóð. It runs from September to December, and over half of all books sold in Iceland are sold in the month before Christmas.
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If you're in Iceland beware of the phrase 'I will find you on a beach': this idiom (or threat) means, ' I'll get my revenge,' or 'don't make me hurt you.'
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Iceland is so safe that parents routinely leave their babies alone to nap outside in their strollers while they run errands.
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For many Icelanders, WW2 is actually known a “the blessed war" because the country has the war to thank for its independence.
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