Essential Icelandic phrases

Your ten-digit identity number from Registers Iceland. Asked for constantly — by shops, gyms, libraries and the pharmacy — and used far more casually than most countries use an ID number.

Legal domicile. Registering it, not merely having a kennitala, is what starts your healthcare clock and gives you access to municipal services.

Electronic ID, held on your SIM or in an app. It is how you log into Ísland.is, the tax authority, your bank and your health records.

The national digital services portal. Almost every dealing with the Icelandic state runs through it, and it is genuinely well built.

Indexation. Icelandic loans and many contracts are linked to the consumer price index, which changes what a mortgage or a lease really costs.

'It'll work out.' The national motto in everything but name, and an accurate description of how planning is done on an island with this weather.

The geothermal public pool. Outdoor, warm all year, with hot tubs — the actual centre of Icelandic social life, not a leisure facility.

The hot tub at the pool. Where local conversation, gossip and a fair amount of business actually happens.

The Directorate of Labour. It decides your work permit — separately from Útlendingastofnun, which decides your residence permit.

Thank you. Icelanders switch to English instantly, but the effort is noticed in a country where almost no foreigner learns the language.

112 for any emergency, and for search and rescue. 1700 is the health advice line; 1770 reaches the out-of-hours doctor service.