Originally, and I suspect Icelanders might keep quiet about this, woodland once covered large areas of the island, but the early settlers took care of this. It does, however, nestle up to the Arctic Circle. Not surprisingly, therefore, Nature has something different in store for it than endless sun, although it is warmer than many imagine. Iceland is different from other countries in many other ways. Here's an unusual way to be different, for example.
Most countries have to revert to plain and simple hostilities in order to extend their borders.
Not so Iceland. Where the plates separate, the earth's crust is replenished by magma flowing up from the depths to fill the gap. Ice acted as an inhibiting force on the lava flows and limited the spread of ash, creating bizarre mountain formations as suddenly cooled magma formed rocks with names like palagonite tuff and pillow lava . Pick up some of the rock and you'll be amazed at how light it is. Their economy is equally fragile, due to their deep dependence upon fishing.