Author: Andie Sophia Fontaine

This article is brought to you in partnership with Lava Car Rental Iceland is often described as a “small” country, but spend any amount of time here and you’ll soon realise it’s anything but.Iceland is roughly twice the size of Denmark (or about the size of the US state of Kentucky), but it’s home to only about 400,000 people. That’s a population density of just under four people per square kilometre. Couple with this the fact that almost all of these people, and almost all of Iceland’s sites of natural wonder, are located on or near the coast and one thing becomes clear:……

Capital area residents were treated to a little of the unexpected yesterday evening as lightning struck, followed by a very loud thunder clap. According to the Icelandic Met Office, yesterday was a big day for lightning strikes in Iceland. Not rare but uncommon Lightning is not exactly rare in Iceland–especially as global temperatures continue to rise–but it is a little uncommon. This is because of the conditions required; namely, warmer air meeting cooler air. Yesterday’s stormy conditions, still ongoing in the north of the country, provided the ideal conditions. As can be seen in the Icelandic Met Office’s data, there……

Construction is already well underway at Laugavegur 66, where Iceland’s first Starbucks is set to open. Not a hoax As reported last August, Berjaya Food International–which holds the operating rights for Starbucks in Iceland, Denmark and Finland–intends to open Iceland’s first Starbucks. In their initial statement, they said they were aiming to open in the first or second quarter of this year. Initially, an Icelandic artist well known for publicity hoaxes claimed responsibility for the statement. Berjaya confirmed later the same day that this claim was false, and the aim to open Iceland’s first Starbucks was real. Well on the……

Amongst the numerous Nordic acts to take to the stage during the First Days portion will be the Icelandic punk band GRÓA, festival organisers have just announced. A phenom eight years running GRÓA, a Reykjavík-born trio comprised of sisters Karòlína Einars Maríudóttir and Hrafnhildur Einars Maríudóttir with childhood friend Fríða Björg Pétursdóttir, have been making waves in the capital’s music scene since their debut in 2018. The band has been the subject of numerous accolades, amongst them of bringing “a fiery, delightfully aggressive energy to the stage”, possessing “glorious cacophony of heart and intrigue”, and “throw[ing] elements of post-punk, noise……

Despite the passing of the spring equinox last week, the weather across Iceland this week may remind some of the season previous. Rainy days Today will prove mostly cloudy for the southwestern portion of the country, with scattered showers in the northwest and southeast. The northeast will see mostly sunny skies. Temperatures will be relatively warm, from 3°C to 8°C, although it may be quite breezy in East Iceland. Come Wednesday, however, the weather will take a turn for the wet. Heavy rains are expected across the entirety of Iceland, and although winds should be relatively still for most of……

In the wake of previous discussions regarding the formation of an Icelandic military, a police commissioner has offered another suggestion–one that already exists within Icelandic law. Country without an army Iceland is the most populous European country with no standing army. Even during the so-called “Cod Wars”, Iceland fought (and won) against Britain for sovereignty over its fishing waters with Coast Guard vessels, outfitted trawlers, and little else. That said, Iceland is a NATO country, and contributes to the organisation in exchange for regular air patrols from NATO countries. However, foreign ministers both past and present have stated that the……

The Icelandic government intends to join an organisation comprised of seven other nations with the goal of reducing emissions from shipping in the North Atlantic, the government announced. Emission control area The project, known as the North Atlantic Emission Control Area (AtlECA), is the implementation of an existing concept on a grander scale. There are already several ECAs around the world, which aim to impose restrictions on the kinds of emissions that global shipping produces. AtlEPA, by contrast, would span a much wider swath of the Atlantic Ocean, with participation from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), the Faeroe Islands, the UK, Ireland,……

Just over 2,400 applications were filed for the hunting of 665 reindeer this hunting season, East Iceland news service Austurfrétt reports, with tighter controls put in place to preserve the population. Late arrivals Reindeer are not native to Iceland, but were imported–primarily from Norway–during the 1700s. The typically confine themselves to the northeastern portion of Iceland, descending closer to the shoreline in the summertime. Today, there are estimated to be around 4100 reindeer in the whole country, but this is down from just over 6,000 in 2014, leading to concerns from environmentalists and hunters alike about the declining reindeer population.……

The City of Reykjavík believes they have cut down enough trees at Öskjuhlíð to allow for Isavia to re-open a runway at Reykjavík Airport. In the way As reported in August 2023, Isavia, the company which operates the airport, told the City of Reykjavík that some hundreds of trees at Öskjuhlíð needed to be cut down in order to make way for medical planes landing at a runway at Reykjavík Airport. More recently, Isavia closed this runway due to safety concerns until such time as the company deemed enough trees had been cleared. However, the forest is protected both by……