The Iceland year-book - 01.01.1926, Page 42

against the polar ice. For this reason harbours in
the South and the West hardly ever freeze, and
-only very rarely on the north coast. The average
annual rainfall in Reykjavik is 894 mm., and the
number of sunny hours 1.400. The rainfall is con-
siderably less in certain other districts, and in still
others it is more, e. g. in Vestmannaeyjar (West-
man Islands), where it is 1.319 mm.
The following table of the average annual
temperature, as well as the average in the warmest
and the coldest months, during the period 1874
—1924, will give a fair idea of the thermal condi-
tions. The scale used is Farenheit with centigrade
equivalents in brackets:
Locality. Annual. In Feb. In July.
Reykjavik (south) 39.38 (4.1) 29.84 (-1.2) 52.16 (11.2)
BerufjorSur (east) 37.58 (3.1) 30.02 (-1.1) 47.84 ( 8.8)
Stykkisholmur (west) 37.58 (3.1) 27.68 (-2.4) 50.00 (10.0)
Akureyri (north) 36.32 (2.4) 25.88 (-3.4) 50.72 (10.4)
Communication. Iceland has no railways, and in
large parts of the country ponies are
still the principal means of conveyance and locomo-
tion. The total length of carriage roads so far com-
pleted is 865 kilometres. Most of the large rivers,
and a great number of the smaller ones have been
bridged. Where roads are suitable, not only horse-
drawn carriages hut all kinds of motor vehicles
(of which there are about 300 in Reykjavik alone),
including omnibuses, are extensively used. This
refers especially to the southern lowlands and the
districts nearest to Reykjavik. For coastal traffic
both steamers and motor-vessels are used.
Post-offices are 240 and telephone offices 200,
besides six wireless stations and a broadcasting
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