Culture

The “Per Capita” champion of the world

By Matt Eliason

Per Capita Champions Combine the small population size and the efficiency of the Icelandic people and the recipe yields a winning combination for all "per capita" statistics. Photo/Vilhelm

Although Iceland only has a population of 328,000 citizens, you wouldn’t know it by the country’s ongoing fight to prove its influence and superiority compared to the rest of the world. As a result, Iceland often finds itself near the top of every “per capita” list due to the sparse populated found on the small island in the North Atlantic.

Combining the lofty expectations of Icelanders and the small population is a recipe for “per capita” success and the small Nordic nation owns hundreds, if not thousands, of per capita records due to its lofty expectations of what its citizens believe a “small country” should accomplish.

Here are a few noteworthy “per capita” accomplishments.

Consumes the most energy per person per capita

The most peaceful country in the world (Global Peace Index)

Reykjavik has the lowest murder rate in the world per capita of cities greater than 100K people

Consumes the most Coca-Cola per capita

The happiest population per capita - 98% are happy

Highest internet usage per capita in the world

The second fattest nation in the world per capita

The best gender equality in the world

The highest literacy rate in the world per capita at 99.9%

The most authors in the world per capita

Icelanders read the most books in the world per capita

The highest usage of hydro-power usage in the world per capita

The most Nobel Prize winners per capita. (Iceland actually only has one Nobel Prize winner, but with its small population the ratio is still greater than any other nation with multiple winners that possess much greater populations.)

The most musicians per capita

3rd in most coffee consumed per capita

The highest rate of golf courses per capita. Iceland has 66 golf courses, which equates to 1 golf course per 4,825 Icelanders.