Quiz on Iceland

What is the capital and largest city of Iceland?

• Oslo
• Bergen
• Reykjavik ✓ (Correct answer)
• Helsinki

Source: Reykjavik means 'smoky bay,' named for steam early settlers saw rising from the hot springs.

Which world-famous avant-garde singer was born and raised in Iceland?

• Sia
• Lorde
• Björk ✓ (Correct answer)
• Enya

Source: Björk first charted with The Sugarcubes before going solo and wearing that infamous swan dress.

Which comical seabird with a colorful beak is a beloved symbol of Iceland?

• Penguin
• Albatross
• Toucan
• Puffin ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Iceland hosts the world's largest Atlantic puffin colonies, with millions nesting each summer.

Which milky-blue geothermal spa is one of Iceland's most popular attractions?

• Dead Sea
• Pamukkale
• Hot Springs
• Blue Lagoon ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The Blue Lagoon's warm water is actually runoff from a geothermal power plant next door.

What is the official currency of Iceland?

• Euro
• Icelandic krona ✓ (Correct answer)
• Danish krone
• Icelandic dollar

Source: Despite being European, Iceland never adopted the euro and keeps its own króna.

The English word 'geyser' comes from a famous hot spring in which country?

• Iceland ✓ (Correct answer)
• New Zealand
• United States
• Japan

Source: Geysir, in southwest Iceland, gave its name to every spouting hot spring on Earth.

Most of Iceland's electricity and heating comes from which renewable sources?

• Solar and wind
• Nuclear power
• Hydro and geothermal ✓ (Correct answer)
• Tidal power

Source: Nearly 100% of Iceland's energy is renewable, mostly hydropower and volcanic geothermal heat.

What did the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption famously bring to a halt?

• European air travel ✓ (Correct answer)
• Atlantic shipping
• Global internet
• Arctic fishing

Source: Its ash cloud closed European airspace for days, the biggest air-travel shutdown since WWII.

Roughly what fraction of Iceland's land surface is buried under glaciers?

• About 10% ✓ (Correct answer)
• About half
• Almost none
• About 30%

Source: Glaciers cover about a tenth of Iceland, including Vatnajökull, Europe's largest ice cap.

Iceland is one of the only places on Earth almost entirely free of which insect?

• Bees
• Mosquitoes ✓ (Correct answer)
• Ants
• Houseflies

Source: Iceland's freeze-thaw cycles disrupt breeding, making it nearly the only mosquito-free country.

Iceland's national team stunned fans by reaching the quarterfinals of which 2016 event?

• The World Cup
• UEFA Euro ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Olympics
• Champions League

Source: Tiny Iceland beat England at Euro 2016, popularizing the booming 'Viking Thunderclap' chant.

Iceland's Althing, founded in 930 AD, is among the world's oldest surviving what?

• Universities
• Parliaments ✓ (Correct answer)
• Cathedrals
• Law courts

Source: The Althing first met at Þingvellir in 930, making it one of the oldest parliaments on Earth.

Iceland's celebrated medieval prose epics about feuding settlers are known as the what?

• Sagas ✓ (Correct answer)
• Eddas
• Runes
• Hymns

Source: The Sagas, penned around the 13th century, read like gritty family dramas of Viking-age Iceland.

Iceland's total population is closest to which figure?

• 3.7 million
• 37 million
• 37,000
• 370,000 ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: About 370,000 people live in Iceland, fewer than many single districts of major world cities.

Iceland sits on a slowly widening rift between which two tectonic plates?

• African and Eurasian
• Pacific and Nazca
• Indian and Australian
• North American and Eurasian ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where North America and Eurasia drift apart a few cm a year.

How do most Icelanders traditionally form their last names?

• An inherited family name
• From their hometown
• From a parent's first name ✓ (Correct answer)
• Chosen at adulthood

Source: Most use patronymics: Jón's son Ólafur becomes Ólafur Jónsson, so families share no surname.

Which everyday alcoholic drink was actually banned in Iceland until 1989?

• Strong beer ✓ (Correct answer)
• Red wine
• Whiskey
• Cider

Source: Strong beer was illegal for 74 years; Icelanders still toast 'Beer Day' every March 1st.

Which common form of public transport does Iceland completely lack?

• City buses
• Car ferries
• Airports
• Passenger trains ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Iceland has never built a public railway; its rugged terrain and small population never justified one.

A brand-new Icelandic island rose from the sea during a 1963 eruption; what is it called?

• Heimaey
• Grímsey
• Surtsey ✓ (Correct answer)
• Flatey

Source: Surtsey emerged from the Atlantic in 1963 and is now a protected lab for studying how life colonizes land.

Which Icelandic waterfall is generally considered the most powerful in Europe by volume?

• Gullfoss
• Dettifoss ✓ (Correct answer)
• Skógafoss
• Seljalandsfoss

Source: Dettifoss thunders with more raw force than any other European waterfall and opens the film Prometheus.