Ask Me Everything 1

Where is hot water

always on tap?

In Iceland, underground geothermic (naturally hot) water is piped directly into most homes. The country lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fault in Earth’s crust that is constantly bubbling up hot magma and lava. The underground heat produced by volcanoes is used to produce most of lceland’s electricity.

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Iceland

01: The first settlers were Vikings, who arrived from Norway in the 800s.

02: Iceland is in the North Atlantic and is the most westerly country in Europę.

03: It lies close to the Arctic Circle but has a mild climate, thanks to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

04: The country’s

nearest neighbor is Greenland, 178 miles (287 km) away.

05: Most Icelandic people live in Coastal areas. The uninhabited center mainly consists of rocky mountains and plateaus.

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Iceland has around 200 geysers.

There are around 1,000 active geysers in the world.

Morę than half ¹ of them are in the Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A.

Tell me morę: land of fire and ice

■    Glaciers in Iceland cover morę than 11 percent of the total land area.

I The largest glacier, Vatnajókull, covers an area of 3,127 sq miles (8,100 sq km).

■    There are morę than 100 volcanoes in Iceland, at least 30 of which are active

■    On average, a volcano erupts every five years on Iceland.

■    Iceland’s most famous volcano, Mount Hekla, has erupted 18 times in the past 1,000 years.

Five facts about geysers

^ ^ Geysers are smali w A vents that spout fountains of boiling hot water into the sky.

02

Strokkur, Iceland’s w O most famous geyser, spouts water every five minutes.

04

geyser:

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