Norway vs Iceland

Why people mix them up

Both are Nordic countries with Nordic cross flags in exactly the same three colours, red, white and blue, just arranged the other way round. Norway's flag is red with a blue cross outlined in white; Iceland's is blue with a red cross outlined in white. Both countries are cold, mountainous, rich in fjords and glaciers, speak closely related languages and sit outside the EU. Iceland was even settled largely from Norway in the Viking age, so the cultural overlap is real.

How to tell them apart

• Norway is on the European mainland, sharing the Scandinavian peninsula with Sweden; Iceland is an island far out in the North Atlantic with no land borders.
• Norway's flag is red with a blue cross; Iceland's is blue with a red cross. Red field means Norway.
• Norway is almost four times larger and has about 5.5 million people; Iceland has roughly 390,000, fewer than many cities.
• Norway borders Sweden, Finland and Russia; Iceland borders nobody.
• The capitals are Oslo (Norway) and Reykjavík (Iceland).
• Norway's coastline is shredded into thousands of fjords and islands; Iceland is a single compact island with a smoother outline.

Memory hook

Iceland's flag is blue because it is surrounded by ice-cold ocean; Norway's is red like the painted wooden houses on the mainland. Island with "I" in Iceland, mainland with "mainland-length" coast for Norway.

On the map

For Norway, find Sweden and tap the long, jagged country wrapped around its western and northern sides, running from Denmark's latitude all the way up past the Arctic Circle to Russia. For Iceland, look out into the North Atlantic between Greenland and Norway, just below the Arctic Circle, and tap the lone island there. If you can reach it from Sweden without crossing water, it is Norway.