So, last year, I did a little comparison of Thailand and the US, side by side. I thought it would be similarly interesting to do so about the US and Iceland. Ok, so here we go:
Capital Cities:
US: Washington DC
Iceland: Reykjavik
Population:
US: 310.2 million
Iceland: 308,910
(To put this into some perspective, there are just under 600,000 official residents of Washington DC, more than the entire population of Iceland!)
Monetary Units:
US: Dollar
Iceland: Krona
The exchange rate today is $1 = 116.070 ISK.
Life Expectancy:
US: 76 (male), 81 (female)
Iceland: 79 (male), 83 (female)
Iceland has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world.
Time Difference:
Iceland is 4 hours ahead of the US.
Geography:
US: The 4th largest country in the world
Iceland: The 2nd largest island in Europe. Iceland averages a volcanic eruption every 5 years.
Iceland is 39,768 square miles. Our home state of Virginia is 42,774 Square miles.
Government:
US: Democratic Federal Republic
Iceland: Constitutional Republic
President:
US: Barack Obama
Iceland: Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Presidents in both countries serve a 4 year term.
I’ve added a little sidebar yonder -----> with the flag and some of these facts. I learned a lot with a quick Google search and hope you enjoyed!
I knew I recognized her name. Gudrun is a powerful female character in Norse legends. An Icelandic author, Snorri Sturluson, wrote these stories in a book called _Edda_. I remember studying the story of Gudrun. It is a good one!
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