This country runs on cheap, renewable, pollution-free energy. Most of its power is geothermic, supplied by the country's 200 volcanoes. Much of the rest is hydroelectric, generated by rivers flowing off the volcanoes. As a result, it has the cleanest environment in the developed world.
Its citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, ranking second only to the Swiss. The country has more VCRs per capita than any other, and the most cars after the USA.
They also have the longest life expectancy in the world (more than 78 years). This is attributed in part to the unpolluted environment and to the pure food this environment offers. Almost all produce is farmed organically, without the use of pesticides or other chemicals.
It spends more money per capita on health care than any other country. The infant mortality rate is the lowest in the world. The health system is renowned for preventive treatment; it boasts the world's highest rate of early detection of breast cancer, for example.
More books per capita are published here than in any other country (1 per every 5,000 people annually). The literacy rate is the highest in the world (virtually 100 percent). One out of every ten inhabitants will publish a book or paper in his or her lifetime. Theatre attendance per capita is also highest in the world.
It's home to more Nobel Prize-winning authors, chess grandmasters, and international beauty queens than any other nation (per capita). In addition, it has produced more winners of the World's Strongest Man competition than any other country.
Everyone (including the president) is addressed by first name. Even the phone book lists people by first name. The country is so small (pop: 260,000) that referring to people by last names—which are based on parents' first names, anyway—is unnecessary.
Its capital is home to the world's northern-most Indian restaurant: Taj Mahal, Hverfisgata Street 56. For reservations, call 354 1 21630.
The whole place is run by women. Three of the country's highest political offices are held by women; President Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a single mother and the world's first democratically elected female head of state, has been re-elected four times since 1980. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the President of the Parliament are women too.
And the weather's not bad, even if the country is called Iceland. Though the country borders the Arctic Circle, the warm Gulf Stream winds keep temperatures mild. The winter average is around 0 degrees Celsius (about the same as Milan's)/ And, while the sun shines only three hours during the northern winter, nighttime lasts only an hour at the height of summer.
Sigh.
