ICELAND IS the place to be. No, not the frozen food emporium; the country. It may not top your list of places to visit before you die, but Iceland has more going for it than you might expect, having just been named the world's most peaceful place.

The Global Peace Index survey, carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was compiled based on 24 indicators of external and internal measures of peace. The fact that it has no army and has the lowest ratio of citizens in jail of all the 140 countries surveyed helped Iceland hit number one. (Rumour has it that enigmatic songstress Bjork was off on tour and wrestling with photographers at the time of the survey.) So how does a chilly, northern European nation descended from Vikings and Celts come to be the most peaceful country in the world? Surely Scotland can learn some lessons - although, unless we can take drastic action to reduce the numbers residing at Her Majesty's Pleasure in prisons bursting at the seams, I don't think we'll be challenging Iceland any time soon.

But how much fun can it be living in a country that sounds as if it would freeze your baltics off, even if it is actually warmed by the Gulf Stream? What's the lure of boiled fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the odd singed sheep's head on special occasions - or cured testicles if you're really lucky? And even the most gripping 13th-century Viking sagas must wear a bit thin after a while. It's a high price to pay for peace.

Iceland also comes out well in other international comparisons. According to the UN's Human Development Index, it is the world's most developed country, and one of the most egalitarian. It boasts excellent education and healthcare and has one of the world's highest standards of living. Iceland is also the fourth-happiest country in the world, according to a University of Leicester psychological survey, which found that the key determinants of happiness were health, wealth and education, and fish consumption. (OK, I made the last one up.) But I bet our fish tastes better, battered, deep-fried, lathered in salt and vinegar with chips on the side did I mention that Iceland enjoys rude health? Male life expectancy is 80.55 years - the highest in the world. In Scotland, it's 74.6. Maybe that boiled fish sounds tasty after all.

So let's hear it for Iceland, a paragon of peace - unless, of course, you happen to be a whale. It seems to have escaped the Economist Intelligence Unit that Iceland is a bit naughty when it comes to whaling. It abandoned traditional whaling in 1989, in line with an international moratorium. But it later resumed "scientific whaling", to investigate the impact of whales on fish stocks (aye, right). Two years ago, it announced a return to commercial hunts and last Tuesday Icelandic whalers killed their first minke whale since the government approved a quota of 40 whales for the 2008 hunt.

Nations including Britain, Australia and numerous animal welfare and conservation groups have voiced their criticism, but Iceland's whaling proponents argue whales must be killed to preserve fish stocks.

Such a civilised nation. It's a shame that world peace does not extend to dumb animals.