I don't know how Iceland's 1% is calculated exactly, but lets go by the area of a tree's crown as seen from above (ground coverage). I measured the diameter of the (round) crown of one reasonably sized tree in Vatican City, which was about 25 meters. The area of that is, coincidentally, roughly 0.00049km². So that single tree is already 0.1% of the total area of Vatican City. So you would only need about 11 trees of a similar size to beat Iceland's 1%. If you look at satellite images, there's a lot more than 11 trees in Vatican City. Conversely, you would need about 2,104,591 trees of this size to reach that 1% in Iceland.
I think the reason so many people (relative to the other questions, at least) get the Iceland question wrong is the stupid joke that always floats around the internet (I think originating from Bill Wurz) about how Greenland and Iceland's names are swapped. While Greenland certainly isn't very green and has more ice than Iceland, Iceland is not really misnamed - around 11% is covered in Ice, more than any other sovereign state. Iceland may not be the iciest 'land', but if we're removing sovereign state criteria, then that wouldn't apply to Greenland, either - Antarctica would take the cake. Is Australia misnamed because its name suggests it is a 'southern' land, even though Chile and Argentina reach farther south? It's undeniably quite southern by world standards. Iceland is undeniably quite icy by world standards.
Bill definitely wasn't the first to notice the "irony", but i think he definitely popularised it, and certainly what i was thinking of when i got it wrong
Iceland - 103,125km² > 1% = 1031.25km²
Vatican City - 0.49km² > 1% = 0.0049km²
I don't know how Iceland's 1% is calculated exactly, but lets go by the area of a tree's crown as seen from above (ground coverage). I measured the diameter of the (round) crown of one reasonably sized tree in Vatican City, which was about 25 meters. The area of that is, coincidentally, roughly 0.00049km². So that single tree is already 0.1% of the total area of Vatican City. So you would only need about 11 trees of a similar size to beat Iceland's 1%. If you look at satellite images, there's a lot more than 11 trees in Vatican City. Conversely, you would need about 2,104,591 trees of this size to reach that 1% in Iceland.
This was fun, thanks.
Long live the Laser Kiwi!!
What a waste.