Iceland is an island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Europe and North America. The country is situated on a strategic location between North America and Europe, about 840 km North West of the United Kingdom and about 460 km south east of Greenland’s coast.
Iceland’s extraordinary landscape offers hot springs and geysers, ice fields and volcanoes, glaciers and wild waterfalls. Iceland has 30 active volcanic systems, of which 13 have erupted since the settlement of the island in AD 874; only about 20 per cent of the country is habitable.
The affluence enjoyed by Icelanders before 2008 initially rested on the fishing industry, but with the gradual contraction of this sector, the Icelandic economy diversified into new areas. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nation’s Scandinavian heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse and Gaelic settlers. The official language is Icelandic. The currency is the Icelandic krona.