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The culture of Iceland is largely characterized by its literary heritage that began during the 12th century but also traditional arts such as weaving, silversmithing, and wood carving. The Reykjavík area hosts several professional theaters, art galleries, bookstores, cinemas and museums.
Iceland's stock market, the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE), was established in 1985. [147] Iceland is ranked 27th in the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, lower than in prior years but still among the freest in the world. [148] As of 2016, it ranks 29th in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitive Index, one place lower than in 2015. [149]
The geology of Iceland is unique and of particular interest to geologists. Iceland lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. It also lies above a hotspot, the Iceland plume. The plume is believed to have caused the formation of Iceland itself, the island first appearing over the ocean surface about ...
Dettifoss, located in northeast Iceland. It is the second-largest waterfall in Europe in terms of volume discharge, with an average water flow of 200 m 3 /s. Iceland is an island country in Northern Europe, straddling the Eurasian and North American plates between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the British Isles.
Iceland is of volcanic origin with the landscape being influenced by water and wind erosion, abrasion and frost action. The Highlands form a plateau some 500 m (1,640 ft) above sea level, lying in the central and southeastern part of the island, and occupy about 40% of the landmass; they consist largely of volcanic deserts interspersed with glaciers.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent plates. Volcanoes indicated in red.. In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American Plate and Eurasian Plate.
Gullfoss appears on the cover of the album Porcupine by the British band Echo and the Bunnymen.Additionally, the falls are referenced in the novella The Odd Saga of the American and a Curious Icelandic Flock; [3] during a dinner, Snorri expresses a preference for Gullfoss, while Dr. Gustafsson favors Glymur.
Iceland as seen from space, with Vatnajökull appearing as the largest white area to the lower right. Vatnajökull (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈvahtnaˌjœːkʏtl̥] ⓘ, literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the second largest in area in Europe after the Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya ...