Iceland

Iceland - Location, scenery and population

Iceland is an island country placed in the northwest of Europe and to the southeast of Greenland, in the North of the Atlantic Ocean. Its population is about 320,000 and its extension is of 103,000 km² . The largest city is Reykjavik, which is also the capital. Iceland is a volcanic active island, defining mainly the scenery of the country. In the interior visitors will find sceneries of plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers.

The climate of Iceland is defined by its location being at the coast subpolar oceanic; the coasts remain ice-free during winters, despite its proximity to the Arctic. The highest temperature is during August with an average of 13,0 (maximum temperature, registering a temperature of -5 ºC in winter.

First settlers of Iceland came from Norway and later settlers of Nordic origin settled in the island. Today there are many groups of different origin, specially from Europe, mainly from Poland, and in a smaller scale from America and Africa.

The official language is Icelandic, a north Germanic language.