the last time whale oil was used in u.s. automobile transmissions was 1972.

whales are still hunted by japan, norway, iceland, and indiginous communities in the arctic. the rest of the world has banned whale hunting.

during the cold war, iceland prohibited black american soldiers from being stationed at the american military base there, primarily to keep them away from icelandic women.

 iceland has the largest banana plantation in europe.

more than 50% of icelanders believe in elves.

diabetes is 3 times more common in the u.s. than in the u.k., and 5 times more common in the u.s. than it is in iceland.

there has been 1 fatal shooting by police in iceland in the country's 71 year history.

antarctica, geenland, iceland, and hawaii have no native ant species.

iceland banned all strip clubs in 2010. the country has just 320,000 people.

iceland is the world's best-read country. 1 in 10 icelandic citizens will be published authors at some point in their lives, and they write, publish, and purchase more books per capita than any other nation.

there is almost no violent crime in iceland (example: there was 1 murder in iceland in all of 2009). so what makes it so different from the rest of the world?

there is little difference in income between economic classes, for one thing. despite the fact that 1 in 3 citizens own guns, it is difficult to get them, not even the police have them, and gun ownership requires a medical exam and a written test.

it is also one of the most well-educated nations. hard drug use among icelandic teenagers is only about 2%, compared to about 14% in the u.s.

41% of icelanders are atheists. of the rest, many are lutherans.

when icelandic citizens disagreed with the right-wing government's handling of the banks during the economic downturn in 2008, they staged a protest called the 'kitchenware revolution'. thousands thronged parliament, banging on pots and pans, until the government resigned and new elections were held. despite being hit disproportionately hard by the recession of 2008 due to its economy's over-dependence on banking, unemployment in iceland is now just below 5%, and continues to fall.