Iceland gets its heating and electricity from this natural resource via five geothermal power/heating plants, which turn the heat into clean energy for the entire country – half of whose residents live in the City of Reykjavik.

The country produces no fossil fuels and hence imports all of its petroleum products, which are mostly consumed in the transport and fishing sectors. Iceland converted from oil to geothermal district heating during the period 1940 to 1975.

Iceland meets 99.99% of its electricity needs with renewable energy. Virtually all of this comes from hydropower, 71.03% and geothermal, 28.91%. Fossil fuels come a distant fourth, with only 0.01% of the energy production.

Iceland uses the standard Europlug socket with two round prongs. For these plugs, you can use adapter types “C” or “F”. These are often labelled as a Northern Europe adapter.

Money. Currency: The currency in Iceland is the Icelandic króna (ISK). Many places (restaurants, bars, tourist attractions) will take US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish currencies. Payment: Icelanders usually pay for everything by credit or debit card.

Do you need cash in Iceland? No, you don’t need any cash in Iceland. And yes, you can pay everywhere by debit or credit card.

The currency is very strong, one of the strongest in the world, so chances are if you are visiting Iceland from pretty much anywhere else in the world, Icelandic currency will be stronger than your local currency.

The Icelandic currency collapsed in value following the 2008 banking collapse, losing more than 50% of its value in the fall of 2008. Following the crash the government of Iceland imposed capital controls to protect the value of the currency. At the end of May 2017 the Dollar had dipped below the 100 Króna mark.

McDonald’s is to close its business in Iceland because the country’s financial crisis has made it too expensive to operate its franchise. The fast food giant said its three outlets in the country would shut – and that it had no plans to return.

McDonald’s Iceland (1993-2009) McDonald’s opened its first Icelandic restaurant in Reykjavík in 1993 in response to the rising wealth of Icelandic residents. Hence it was decided to close all the stores in Iceland in October 2009, with no plans to revive McDonald’s Iceland in the future.

Cost of Living in Iceland

European countries that lack McDonald’s include Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and, surprisingly, Iceland. While Iceland once had McDonald’s restaurants, since 2009 they’ve been Mickey D’s-free.