Quick Facts about Iceland

Did you know most Icelanders don't have a family last name? Instead, a child's surname is built from a parent's first name plus "-son" or "-dóttir" — so Jón's daughter Anna is Anna Jónsdóttir. Even the phone book is alphabetized by first name, and citizens can only pick from an approved list of given names.

Did you know Iceland is one of the only places on Earth with no mosquitoes? Scientists think its unstable freeze-thaw cycles never give mosquito larvae a stable window to mature. Neighboring Greenland and Scotland are full of them — Iceland is mysteriously mosquito-free.