Iceland review - 2002, Page 9

ICELAND REVIEW 7
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A NATION OF COMPUTER NERDS
Iceland has the highest Internet access
rate in the world
Iceland has the highest Internet access rate in the world,
with 69.8% of the nation being able to access the World
Wide Web, according to statistics published on the web
site Nua.com.
Sweden came in second place with 64.68%; Denmark
in third with 60.38%; Hong Kong in fourth with 59.58%;
and the USA in fifth with 59.1% of Americans being able
to log on to the Net. According to Nua.com, a total of
10% of the Earth’s inhabitants now have access to the
Internet.
CULTURE NIGHT
The annual Culture Night was held
on 17 August
Culture Night was held, as in past years, on the birthday
of the City of Reykjavík, the 17th of August. The
Reykjavík Marathon set the day off with both a smoking
gun and hundreds of pairs running shoes smoking at the
starting post. Later that day, galleries were bursting
forth with art, and people from all walks of life were
soaking in the cultural floods of the city. Bands played,
actors acted and artists exhibited their work, as the rest
of the population got lost somewhere in the excitement.
The firework display marked the end of the very enjoy-
able Culture Night and the beginning of what the media
has been coining “Un-Culture Night”, with intoxicated
youths congregating in crowds on the streets.
LIVING THE HIGH LIFE
United Nations good measures
Iceland’s quality of life is amongst the best on the globe,
according to a list published by the United Nations in
July. Iceland is in seventh place on the list, which is lead
by Norway in first, Sweden in second and Canada in third
place. In fourth, fifth and sixth place are Belgium,
Australia and the USA. At the bottom of the 173-country
list are Burundi, Niger and Sierra Leone. The quality of
life in each country is measured by using a variety of
indicators, such as age expectancy, levels of education,
income, equality of the sexes, levels of poverty, and stan-
dards of technology.
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