Iceland Country & Tourist Information - Iceland is not only closer than you think, but far different than you ever imagined. Where else can you witness such marvels of Mother Nature as a tremendous icecap and several glaciers, spouting geysers and steaming solfataras, volcanoes (hopefully dormant), raging rivers and magnificent waterfalls, a multitude of birds, cavorting whales just offshore and many other surprises.

Explore the Iceland landscape with a Motorhome, Campervan, RV or 4WD Camper from one of the above Iceland Camper hire companies. With a Recreational Vehicle hire, you have the complete freedom to discover the Iceland Countryside at your own pace with no strict timetables or hotel check ins.

Stop when and where you want to ! Have the convenience of storage space where you can take all the essential items that you require for your family vacation up in the mountains or alongside a river or down on the beach.

Create life time memories with a Iceland self drive camper rental. Experience the adventure of the open road with your Iceland Camper Rental and enjoy great value for money (especially for families) with being able to prepare your own meals plus also the bonus of spending quality time with the family.

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland is a country of northwestern Europe, comprising the island of Iceland and its outlying islets in the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. As of April 2007, it had a population of 309,699. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík.

Iceland has a history of habitation since about the year 874 when, according to Landnámabók, the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland. Until the twentieth century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1944 a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies.

Today, Iceland is a highly developed country, the world's fifth and second in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and human development respectively. Iceland is a member of the UN, NATO, EEA, and OECD.

The island's spoken language is Icelandic, a North Germanic language. In terms of etymology, the Icelandic language is the closest to Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. Today, the closest language still in existence to Icelandic is Faroese. In education, the use of Icelandic Sign Language for the Deaf in Iceland is regulated by the National Curriculum Guide. The predominant religion is Lutheran.

Prominent foreign languages include English, Danish, other Scandinavian languages and German.

The southwest corner of Iceland is the most densely populated region and the location of the capital Reykjavík, the northernmost capital in the world. The largest towns outside the capital region are Akureyri and Reykjanesbær.

Climate
The climate of Iceland's coast is cold oceanic. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures generally higher temperatures than in most places of similar latitude in the world. The winters are mild and windy while the summers are damp and cool. Regions in the world with similar climate are: Aleutian Islands, Alaska Peninsula and Tierra del Fuego.

There are some variations in the climate between different parts of the island. Very generally speaking, the south coast is warmer, wetter and windier than the north. Low lying inland areas in the north are the most arid. Snowfall in winters is more common in the north than the south. The Central Highlands are the coldest part of the country.

The highest air temperature recorded was 30.5°C (86.9°F) on 22 June 1939 at Teigarhorn on the southeastern coast. The lowest temperature was -38°C (-36.4°F) on 22 January 1918 at Grímsstaðir and Möðrudalur in the interior of northeast. The temperature records for Reykjavík are 24.8°C (76.6°F) on 11 August 2004, and -24.5°C (-12.1°F) on 21 January 1918.

Cuisine
Iceland offers wide varieties of traditional cuisine. Þorramatur (food of the þorri) is the Icelandic national food. Nowadays þorramatur is mostly eaten during the ancient Nordic month of þorri, in January and February, as a tribute to old culture. Þorramatur consists of many different types of food. These are mostly offal dishes like pickled ram's testicles, putrefied shark, singed sheep heads, singed sheep head jam, blood pudding, liver sausage (similar to Scottish haggis) and dried fish (often cod or haddock) with butter.

Entertainment
Iceland is home to Nick Jr's LazyTown (Latibær), created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a huge phenomenon with children and adults and is shown in over 98 countries, including the US, Canada, Sweden and Latin America. The LazyTown Studios are located in Garðabær.

Technology
Iceland is one of the world's most technologically advanced and digitally-connected countries. It has the highest number of broadband Internet connections per capita among OECD countries