Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland is a volcanic island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands. Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of North America, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents. Due to cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's 18th largest island, and Europe's 2nd largest island following Great Britain. ------------------------------------- Approximately 10 percent of the island is glaciated. Many fjords punctuate its 3,088 miles (4,970 km) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the international airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.----------The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the arctic fox. It came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the island. There are around 1,300 known species of insects in Iceland, which is rather low compared with other countries (there are about 925,000 known species in the world). During the last Ice Age almost all of the country was covered by permanent snow and glacier ice. This explains the low number of living species in Iceland.------ Iceland offers wide varieties of traditional cuisine. Þorramatur (food of the þorri) is the Icelandic national food. Nowadays þorramatur is mostly eaten during the ancient Nordic month of þorri, in January and February, as a tribute to old culture. Þorramatur consists of many different types of food. These are mostly offal dishes like pickled ram's testicles, putrified shark meat, singed sheep heads, singed sheep head jam, blood pudding, liver sausage (similar to Scottish haggis) and dried fish (often cod or haddock) with butter.-----------Some famous Icelanders include alternative rock band The Sugarcubes (not to be confused with the Sugababes); its singer Björk; rap group Quarashi; artist collective GusGus; avant-garde rock band Sigur Rós; folk electronic/acoustic musician Emiliana Torrini and novelist Halldór Laxness, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955. Although raised and educated in Scotland, TV presenter Magnus Magnusson was born in Reykjavík. Footballer Eiður Guðjohnsen who played for Chelsea F.C. and currently plays for FC Barcelona in Spain is Iceland's most famous sportsman. Magnús Scheving, creator of Lazy Town, an aerobics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show. LazyTown (Latibær), created by Magnús Scheving, has become a huge phenomenon with children and adults and is shown in over 98 countries, including, the US, Canada, Sweden and Latin America. The LazyTown Studios are located between Hafnarfjörður and Garðabær.