Sunday Quiz | This week, its all about Iceland
1 / 10 |
Founded on June 23, 930 AD, The Alþingi (Althing in English) in Iceland is the oldest of its kind. It has been functioning for the last 1089 years and currently has 63 seats with Steingrímur J. Sigfússon presiding. When it was started it was a general assembly where parties involved in legal disputes, traders, craftsmen, storytellers and travellers too part. One ‘Lawspeaker’ sat on a rock and recited the laws in effect at that time. What is the Althing one of the oldest of?
2 / 10 |
A group of raiders from Norway settled in Iceland sometime in the 800s. This fact makes Iceland a fairly young country. These raiders gave both Iceland and another country they founded their names. They purposefully misnamed them both so that their enemies would hopefully go to the ice-covered country instead of following them to the fertile land where they actually settled, which was Iceland. Who were these raiders and what is the name of the other country?
3 / 10 |
'Þingvellir' National Park is a Unesco World Heritage Site which is one of only two places in the world where you can see two certain geological features above the earth’s surface. The other is in Africa and in the gap between these two features (which has been moving apart over history at the rate of 2 cm per year) there is a lake where you can go diving. The features are known as ‘North American’ and ‘Eurasian’, and in other places when they usually move they cause natural disasters. What are these features that are responsible for the world looking how it is today?
4 / 10 |
This place, the name of which means ‘Island Mountain Glacier’ is tough to pronounce for those who don’t know Icelandic. It has been doing its thing since the beginning of the century but the most recent event was in 2010 when because of its activity it caused major traffic issues in Europe. One of the unfortunate issues it posed was the inability of news anchors in pronouncing the name right. What is ‘Island Mountain Glacier’? (Just say what it is, but extra points if you give the actual name.)
5 / 10 |
Iceland is one of the most eco-friendly on the planet as they use very little fossil fuels. They even have some hydrogen-run buses in their capital. Their main source of energy though is, thanks to the country’s unique landscape. What is the main source of energy in Iceland (which is ironic considering the name)?
6 / 10 |
Since 1918, a particular thing has been in use in Iceland officially. The entity has three colours which represent what make up the island. X is the fire produced by the island’s volcanoes, Y recalls the ice and snow that covers Iceland and Z is for the mountains of the island. What is this entity and what are the three colours?
7 / 10 |
Since 1991, Icelanders who had to do a process (which is usually once in a lifetime) had to get permission from a central government committee. This committee has been criticised harshly and often sparked controversy with its verdicts. Its objective is to protect Icelandic tradition by conforming to pronunciation and grammatic rules but many people find it too strict and sometimes unfair. What does a Icelander couple need to do which might seem unusual to us?
8 / 10 |
Until 1983 a certain restriction was in place in July by the Icelandic government which was put in place to ensure that citizens would go out and socialise more during summer. What couldn’t you do there in July which families in India do till late at night?
Answer : Watch TV. There were no broadcasts on the National TV in July
SHOW ANSWER
9 / 10 |
The entire population of the country of Iceland is around 300,000 (which is less than T.Nagar in Chennai on a weekend) but interestingly one in 10 people will do something that is quite rare in India. The phenomenon is described in Icelandic as ‘ad ganga med bok I maganum’ which means everyone “has a ___ in their stomach.” What do Icelanders do more of than pretty much everywhere else in the world, which ensures their thoughts are captured for generations to come?
10 / 10 |
Iceland is one of the few inhabited places on Earth where a certain universally hated species of animal is not found thanks to the rapid climate changes. If a child or researcher wanted to see one of these, they would have to go to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History and see one single specimen which a scientist caught inside a plane and preserved in a jar of alcohol. What animal is this that is the bane of all Indians?