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Iceland Country Quiz

Can you guess these facts about the remote country of Iceland?
Quiz by alberici
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Last updated: June 21, 2020
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First submittedDecember 30, 2015
Times taken33,367
Average score70.0%
Rating4.56
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Clue
Answer
Capital of Iceland
Reykjavík
Official language
Icelandic
Ocean current which keeps Iceland warmer than it would otherwise be
Gulf stream
Group of people who settled Iceland starting in 874 A.D.
Norse
Currency of Iceland
Icelandic króna
The percent of Iceland's land which is forested (to the nearest whole number)
0.49%
Traditional story about the settlement and history of Iceland (starts with S)
Saga
The Alþingi, founded in 930 A.D. is said to be the world's oldest ______,
at least 200 years older than England's
Parliament
Protestant branch that the Church of Iceland is part of
Lutheranism
What are Eyjafjallajökull and Öræfajökull?
Volcanos
Country from which Iceland gained its independence in 1918
Denmark
Per-person, Iceland eats more of this than any other country except the Maldives
Fish
Type of biome which covers 62.7% of Iceland (starts with T)
Tundra
Mostly-underwater mountain range that Iceland is part of
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Along with Japan, Iceland is one of the few countries that allow people
to hunt these animals
Whales
Iceland gets 30% of its electricity from this type of power (starts with G)
Geothermal
Nearby Island settled by Erik the Red in the late 10th century
Greenland
Son of Erik the Red who founded the settlement of Vinland in modern-day Canada
Leif Erikson
Female singer who has recorded 22 top 40 hits in the UK
Björk
Small seabird with an orange beak that is sometimes eaten as food
Puffin
+6
Level 77
Jun 21, 2020
Ha - why are there questions about Canada and Greenland on a quiz about Iceland?
+19
Level ∞
Jun 21, 2020
Because both those explorers were born in from Iceland.
+2
Level 77
Jun 22, 2020
Interesting! I did not know that!
+9
Level 76
Jun 24, 2020
But they weren't! Erik the Red was born in Norway (though his son was Icelandic)
+3
Level ∞
Jun 24, 2020
Edited my comment.
+3
Level 73
Jun 22, 2020
"Leif" was not accepted, I missed one point there.
+3
Level 67
Jun 22, 2020
I agree Leif should be accepted (though when that didn't work I obviously added ericson, eventhough that part is sort of inherent to/imbedded in the question)
+6
Level 84
Jun 22, 2020
It goes without saying that Erik's son would have the patronym Erikson, so "Leif" is the part you're actually being asked to answer.
+2
Level ∞
Jun 22, 2020
Leif will work now
+1
Level 80
Jun 22, 2020
Why doesn't Lutheran work?
+6
Level 74
Jun 22, 2020
It does. You probably typed it incorrectly.
+7
Level 84
Jun 22, 2020
"Small seabird with an orange beak that is sometimes eaten as food"

Redundant. If people eat it, it's food.

+8
Level 75
Sep 28, 2020
As opposed to, say, medicine. It's a pretty common phrase.
+5
Level 56
Feb 2, 2021
I was thinking the exact same thing. "Used as food" maybe, but "eaten as food", not so much.

I suppose if they were really disgusting they could be eaten as punishment

+6
Level 78
Jun 23, 2020
Jökull=glacier, should at least be accepted
+1
Level 59
May 25, 2021
Agreed
+2
Level 81
Jun 24, 2020
The Alþingi is more commonly known as the Althing in English?
+5
Level 79
Jul 30, 2020
Correct. Thorn or þorn (Þ, þ) is a letter in the Old English, Gothic, Old Norse, Old Swedish, and modern Icelandic alphabets, as well as some dialects of Middle English. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th, except in Iceland, where it survives.
+1
Level 45
Jan 31, 2024
Hehehe
+1
Level 60
Jun 30, 2020
Watching the Vinland Saga didn't do much help
+3
Level 44
Jul 10, 2020
Shouldn't "Geothermic" also work?
+2
Level 35
Apr 27, 2023
No. That term is pretty much just used in the name of a science journal (*Geothermics*) which describes itself as the journal for "geothermal energy", which is the universally accepted English term.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/spellcheck/english/?q=geothermic

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=geothermic%2C+geothermal&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=true

+8
Level 74
Jul 16, 2020
Jökull means glacier. Eyjafjallajökull = island mountain glacier, Öræfajökull = wilderness glacier. The word for volcano is eldfjall (eld = fire, fjall = mountain). Also, I nearly missed the explorer question because his name is Leifur Eiríksson in Icelandic and I couldn't figure out how it was mangled in English.
+1
Level 83
Aug 22, 2020
Yes, both of the volcanoes are also the names of glaciers. I don't know why I tried that first but I did
+2
Level 44
Nov 9, 2020
Yes. Glacier should be an accepted answer.
+4
Level 85
Jul 26, 2020
0.49 is not a whole number.
+1
Level 21
Oct 11, 2020
Typing 1 works
+8
Level 89
Dec 23, 2020
0 is the nearest whole number though.
+1
Level 79
Jul 30, 2020
Surprised to get all correct on my first try.
+1
Level 49
Sep 13, 2020
i thought it gained independence 1944 from the uk?
+4
Level 59
Dec 21, 2020
No, it has never been part of the U.K. there was a dispute over cod fishing with the U.K. though.
+6
Level 89
Dec 23, 2020
The Cod Wars are sorely missing from the Iceland quiz.
+2
Level 58
Dec 21, 2020
The UK had Iceland under military control during WWII without their consent, but had no control over their government (I believe)
+2
Level 84
Oct 17, 2020
Couldn't come up with "G"eothermal. And apparently they don't have many "gerbils" in Iceland.
+1
Level 59
Oct 29, 2020
Can you accept .49, without a zero, in question #6?
+6
Level 55
Dec 11, 2020
It says "to the nearest whole number" which is 0.
+5
Level 67
Dec 21, 2020
I think "legislature" should work for the parliament question. I know that a parliament is a particular type of legislature, but is there a legislature in the world today older than Iceland's? If not, "legislature" should be an acceptable answer. I also think the definition of "parliament" itself is too nebulous to be able to meaningfully differentiate it from a legislature.
+2
Level 82
Dec 21, 2020
It's also disputed if Iceland's is the oldest. The Tynwald (the Isle of Man Parliament) claims to be older.
+4
Level 88
Oct 5, 2021
The Roman Senate was a legislature, and most certainly existed before Iceland's. So yes, I would say parliament is fitting.
+4
Level 66
Apr 27, 2023
The Roman Senate wasn't really legislative, though. It was more of an advisory council.
+1
Level 55
Feb 5, 2024
in the period of the Republic it was less an advisory council and more an executive,

But your main point that it wasn't a legislature holds regardless,

+1
Level 43
Dec 21, 2020
Ah yes, Puffins cereal
+1
Level 89
Dec 21, 2020
Goes great with sugar
+1
Level 57
Dec 29, 2020
Gather round my friends, let me tell you the tale of a bird that has my devotion...
+2
Level 67
Dec 21, 2020
Don't know much about religion. Tried lutherism and lutherist then gave up
+3
Level 72
Feb 7, 2021
I tried Lutherist too. A bit kore leeway there would be nice.
+2
Level 48
Dec 21, 2020
JetPunk Discord user with a ton of alts that pretended to be from this country:
+1
Level 64
Jan 11, 2021
19/20 first time, missed Leif Erikson, I have heard of him though.
+1
Level 56
Feb 2, 2021
Ditto
+2
Level 40
Apr 8, 2021
Is it normal starting the quiz then giving up?
+2
Level 60
Oct 5, 2021
Letter K Scavenger Hunt Answer (See my blog)
+6
Level 73
Jan 11, 2022
On the Maldives quiz, there's this question: "Per-capita, Maldives eats more of this type of animal than any

other country except Iceland". Except here it's reversed - seems very fishy to me.

+2
Level 60
Apr 27, 2023
I cod not believe your pun...
+1
Level 77
Apr 3, 2022
Haven read about, and seen photos and videos, I can say I would never want to consider a puffin as a food source. I like them entirely too much.
+4
Level 39
Apr 27, 2023
Iceland didn't gain independence from Denmark until 1944. It did gain sovereignty in 1918, though.
+1
Level 45
Jan 31, 2024
I remember this specifically as the UK occupied/controlled it during WW2 bc Denmark fell to the Nazis
+1
Level 64
Apr 27, 2023
When I clicked in the quiz I thought: aw man he's gonna ask me for the name of that volcano isn't he?

Relieved it was the other way around :)

+1
Level 67
Apr 27, 2023
I didn't realize puffins were eaten...
+1
Level 69
Aug 11, 2023
Got 19/20 after visiting there this week!
+1
Level 62
Oct 19, 2023
Playing this as a swede is infuriating. Take "Saga", for example, it is a word in swedish that means fairy tale. Everything in these quizzes makes me so mad, because they don't make any sense.
+1
Level 45
Jan 31, 2024
Can you get rid of the (Begins with G) for the Energy hint? There's like two big ones that work, one being gas, the other being geothermal, and makes that question far too easy