Iceland

Iceland Journal

University of Iceland

We have noticed that the literacy rate in Iceland is rather high. The education system in the country is divided into four levels. The first level, preschool, is non-compulsory education for children six and under. The tuition is paid by parents, and around 30% of the costs needed to run the institution are covered by these tuitions. The second level is compulsory which is mandatory for people from ages 6 to 16. It consists of primary and lower secondary education, which is usually provided at the same institution. Compulsory education has no entry requirements and the acceptance rate at age 6 is 100%. The third level is upper secondary education, a non-compulsory education that follows lower secondary education. Anyone who has finished compulsory education has the right to enter upper secondary education. 97% of the students enter upper secondary education after lower secondary education. Like colleges, upper secondary education is usually four years. There are no tuition fees; however, there are enrollment fees and textbooks are not provided. The final level is higher education. Iceland has seven higher education institutions, including the University of Iceland, the oldest and largest institution of higher education. In state-run institutions, there are no tuition fees, only enrollment fees. Personally, we think this is a good system because everyone is given the opportunity to pursue education at very little cost.  

Being in Iceland we learned that Icelandic, a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, is the official language of the country. Compared to other Nordic languages, Icelandic has changed less in grammar and vocabulary. Since the early 19th century, the linguistic purism of Icelandic began. The aim of the phenomenon is to replace loanwords by creating new words from Old Icelandic and Old Norse roots and to prevent new loanwords from influencing their language. One thing that we particularly love about Iceland is that the majority of the people can understand English, making traveling around the country rather convenient. English being a compulsory subject in most school curriculums, is widely spoken throughout the country. Other commonly spoken languages include German, Norwegian, Swedish, French, and other Nordic languages. They are so fortunate to live in a country where many different languages are widely used, it definitely gives them some advantage. 

Iceland has an average of $48,000 per capita, based on purchasing power parity (ppp). Other than the 2008 crisis, Iceland has had low unemployment, high growth, and an even distribution of income. The economy mainly relies on the fishing industry, which is more than 12% of their GDP. Their main exports include fish, fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon. Tourism has also become a major contributor to their GDP since 2010. In early 2000s, the bank has been privatized, as a result, domestic banks have expanded rapidly in foreign markets. Although the economy was affected greatly during the 2008 crisis, it has recovered and new banks have been established. Currently, Iceland’s government has been aiming to diversify their economy, stabilize their currency, reduce their high budget deficit, and contain inflation to ensure the growth of their economy. We learned that Iceland has a very stable economy and the government has done their job to maintain the welfare of the citizens. 

Source: http://politsurgut.ru/?p=3698

Iceland Newspaper

The key to curing disease could lie in Iceland's genes

16 March 2017

Iceland’s population has remained cut off from the world since the Vikings settled there over 1,200 years ago and leads to a homogenous gene pool where 90% of the people are considered pure Icelandic. The company deCODE, has the goal of mapping the genome of everyone in Iceland. Kari Stefansson, neurologist and geneticist, and her team at deCODE has identified genes that affect the chances of developing conditions such as heart disease, breast cancer, and Alzheimer. "We discovered a variant a few years back, maybe three or four years back, that confers protection against Alzheimer's disease," Stefansson explained. "It's a rare (gene) variance found in about 1% of the Icelandic population, and if you carry that variant, you are almost completely protected against Alzheimer's disease." With the understanding of the country’s genetics, new medicine may be developed. The drug for deCode's discovery of Alzheimer’s variant and their development of new cardiovascular drugs are currently being trialled.

A murder shocks Iceland and dents women's sense of safety

28 January 2017

The corpse of Birna Brjansdottir was washed up on the shores of Iceland a week after she was reported as missing. This shocked the nation because it all started when a 20 year girl was walking home from a party at night. Birna was at a party the night before the incident and was left alone at around 5 am on January 14th. She was then reported missing hours later, causing her picture to go viral on the media and newspaper all asking the same question, "Where is she?". It is rare for the police to give any rellevant information on cases, yet they came out honest, clear, and consise. They used a security camera and her phone to trace her to Hafnarfjordur, a city near Reykjavik, where the incident took place. Later, they found her shoes on the shores of Hafnarfjordur, then recovered her corpse on January 22nd.

Birna case: Iceland questions sailors in rare suspected murder

23 January 2017

The blood of Birna Brjansdottir was found in a hired car linked back to the two Greenlandic suspects and a shoe found near the suspects' boat. The two suspects are under arrest for suspected murder and are currently under police interrogation. The nation has a low crime rate with less than two murders per year. This caused her death to be mourned by the whole nation of 330,000 people. This case also sparked the largest rescue operation, consisting of 725 volunteers, in Icelandic history.

Iceland Postcard

Dear Sky,
Today, we visited Jökulsárlón, also know as Glacier Lagoon. The tourist attraction is located at the southern part of Iceland and borders around Vatnajokull National Park. It is the largest and deepest glacier lake in Iceland, and became a famous tourist attraction around 1935 when the glaciers started to move. Originally, the lagoon started as a huge glacier that had an average width of 12 miles at around 900 AD, but then came the time period known as the Little Ice Age which lasted from the 1600s to the 1900s and the glacier started to expand. Sadly, when the temperatures rose during the 1920s, the glacier started to fall apart rapidly and it became the beautiful and blue lagoon today. Apparently, it will continue to expand because the glacier continues to melt and is often known as one of Iceland's natural wonders. 

Sincerely,

Cassie and Evelyn
Source: https://earthincolors.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/some-tips-to-take-nice-photos-in-jokulsarlon-lagoon/jokulsarlon-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-iceland/