The Land of the Northern Lights by Douglas Scott

Iceland is a member of NATO and does not have a standing army and has not had one since the nineteenth century.

Reykjavik is the capital and has become one of Europe s hottest night spots and the art scene is alive and well.

Many people in Iceland have two jobs. Twelve percent of the Icelanders people work in the fishing industry. The economy is heavily dependent upon fisheries and seventy two percent of all export is made up of sea food product. Every year 2 million tons of fish is harvested within the 758000 square mile of the fishing waters

Icelanders enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Life expectancy is 74 for men and 80 years for women and is one of the highest in the world. The language of the Vikings is still spoke in Iceland.

The coastline is dotted with more than one hundred fjords and green, fertile valleys extend from them. Iceland also has more than 10000 waterfalls and countless hot springs. Situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is a hot spot of geothermal activity. Thirty post-glacial volcanoes have erupted in the past two centuries, and natural hot water supplies much of the population with cheap, pollution-free heating. Rivers, too, are harnessed to provide inexpensive hydroelectric power. The electrical current is 220 volts,

The Blue Lagoon is close to Keflavik has be a major tourist attraction in Iceland. Its reported healing powers derive from silica mud, mineral salts and blue green algae, all used in the Blue Lagoon which make a wide range of popular cosmetics and cleansing products.

Gullfoss and Geysir these two wonderful sights are within 8 km of each other. Gullfoss, The Golden Waterfall, drops 32 metres into a narrow canyon 70 metres deep and 2.5 km long. It is Iceland s most famous waterfall and one of the country s most visited sites by locals and tourists alike. Geysir had been dormant for a long time when on the 17 June Iceland s Independence Day 2000, a series of earthquakes hit the south of Iceland. The quakes have helped Geysir wake up, so now it erupts almost daily and sometimes several times each day. The more reliable but smaller geyser Strokkur, about 100 metres from Geysir, erupts every 10 min. or so, sending a 30-metre jet of boiling hot water into the air. Variations of the name Geysir are widely used in foreign languages to denote spouting hot springs.

Tucked away on the edge of the Arctic Circle, the worlds northernmost capital offers a surprising variety of cultural and social happenings in addition to an abundance of first-class restaurants, clubs and bars. Reykjavik has numerous museums and galleries throughout the city, with presentations ranging from Viking relics to modern art exhibitions, and being one of Europes smallest capitals, downtown Reykjavik is safe and easy to traverse. The vast majority of restaurants, clubs, cafes and bars in Reykjavik are located on or around the main shopping street Laugavegur.

Author Resource: Douglas Scott works and writes for Car Rentals The Car Hire Specialist. and is a writer for The Villa Rentals Site

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