Iceland is the safest & most peaceful country in the world! According to the Global Peace Index, Iceland is the most peaceful and safe country in the world, for the 8th year in a row! Iceland has no army, navy or air force and is so safe that, as a tourist, you can access the president’s house and even take photos outside without being met with much security.

There are no mosquitoes! Iceland is one of the two places on Earth (the other being Antarctica) where mosquitoes simply do not exist.

The sun never sets. Well, not quite, but almost! In August (when we will be traveling to Iceland), the sun will “set” for 6 hours, (called nautical twilight) which will resemble sunset more than it will complete darkness.

Iceland is roughly the size of Ohio.Iceland clocks in at roughly 39,000 square miles.

Last names don’t exist. Icelandic “last names” are actually made up of either the father or mother’s first name, combined with “-dottir”, which means daughter or son. In fact, the Icelandic phone book actually lists people by their first names.

Don’t call their traditional horses “ponies”! Icelanders do not appreciate their horses being called ponies. They are Icelandic horses. They actually have two gaits in addition to the typical walk, trot, and canter/gallop commonly displayed by other breeds. The first additional gait is a four-beat lateral ambling gait called the tölt.

Icelanders take their names seriously. All first names must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee. If they don’t approve, you need to find an alternate name. The purpose of this is to preserve the traditional Icelandic language, which is derived from ancient Norse.

Iceland inspired Led Zeppelin. Traveling to Iceland inspired the “Immigrant Song”

Reyjavik is both the northernmost and westernmost capital city in Europe.

The only mammal native to Iceland is the arctic fox.