About Iceland
Iceland - Land of Fire, Ice and Modern media protection laws
Iceland is located midway between Europe and North America. It is an island in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and is 103,000 sq km (40,000 sq mi), making Iceland roughly the size of the state of Kentucky in the USA. This nation of around 320,000 people has seen rapid economic development since it gained independence from Denmark in 1944. Modern communication links have enabled the development of a sophisticated state-of-the-art infrastructure.
On 2010 The Icelandic Parliament unanimously passed a proposal to make the country a "new media haven". The proposal, entitled the "Icelandic Modern Media Initiative", resolves to task the government with finding ways to strengthen freedoms of expression and information freedom in Iceland, as well as providing strong protections for sources and whistleblowers.
Facts you didn't know about Iceland
- ► Icelanders are the most active internet users in the world with 86% of the population on the internet
- ► Iceland has the most airports per capita
- ► Icelanders consume the most Coca-Cola in the world per capita
- ► Iceland has the highest percentage of people on Facebook per capita
- ► The population of Iceland is around 320,000; there are twice as many sheep in the country
- ► Over 60% of the people in Iceland live in the capital of Reykjavik
- ► Iceland has the cleanest water of all inhabited areas in the world
- ► Almost all of our energy is generated from renewable energy sources
- ► We go to the movies more often per capita than any other nation in the world
- ► Iceland was the first country in the world to have a female president
- ► During the summer, we have nearly 24 hours of sunlight per night; during December, we get almost no sunlight
- ► The average temperature in Reykjavik is 5°C (41°F)
- ► Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989; vodka was not
- ► Even with our high consumption of junk food and alcohol, Icelanders have one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 81.5 years