Iceland was an extraordinary country
with so much to see and do. Both above and below the water. This is
part one of a two part video featuring some of the incredible sites
around the island country.
Iceland 
i/ˈaɪslənd/ (
Icelandic:
Ísland,
IPA: [ˈislant])
[4] is a
Nordic European island country situated at the confluence of the
North Atlantic and
Arctic Oceans, on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
[5] The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km
2 (40,000 sq mi), which makes it the most sparsely populated country in Europe.
[6]
The capital and largest city is
Reykjavík,
[7]
with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country
being home to two-thirds of the country's population. The nation's
capital is the most northern capital in the world. Iceland is
volcanically and
geologically active.
The interior consists mainly of a plateau characterised by sand and
lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many
glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the
Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the
Arctic Circle.
According to
Landnámabók, the
settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain
Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent
Norse settler on the island.
[8]
Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries,
Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them
thralls of
Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918, Iceland was part of the
Norwegian and later the
Danish monarchies.
The country became
independent in 1918 and a
republic was declared in 1944. Until the 20th century, the
Icelandic population
relied largely on fishing and agriculture, and the country was one of
the poorest and least developed in the world.
Industrialization of the
fisheries and aid from the
Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after
World War II,
and by the 1990s, Iceland became one of the wealthiest and most
developed nations in the world. In 1994, Iceland became party to the
European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
Iceland has a free-market economy with relatively low
corporate taxes compared to other
OECD countries,
[9] while maintaining a
Nordic welfare system that provides
universal health care and
tertiary education for its citizens.
[10]
In 2013, it was ranked as the
13th most developed country in the world by the
United Nations' Human Development Index,
[3] and the fourth most productive country per capita.
[11] In 2008, the nation's entire banking system
systemically failed, resulting in substantial
political unrest.
Iceland ranks high in economic and political stability, though it is still in the process of recovering from the crisis.
[12]
Gender equality is highly valued in Iceland. In the Global Gender Gap
Report 2012, Iceland holds the top spot, closely followed by Finland,
Norway and Sweden.
[13]
Icelandic culture is founded upon the nation's Norse heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse and Gaelic settlers.
Icelandic, a
North Germanic language, is descended from
Old Norse and is closely related to
Faroese and some
West Norwegian dialects.
The country's cultural heritage includes traditional
Icelandic cuisine,
poetry, and the medieval
Icelanders' sagas. Among
NATO members, Iceland has the smallest population and is the only one with
no standing army.
History
Settlement and Commonwealth 874–1262
Ingólfr Arnarson (modern Icelandic:
Ingólfur Arnarson), the first permanent Norse settler in Iceland
According to both
Landnámabók and
Íslendingabók, Celtic monks known as the
Papar lived in Iceland before the Norse settlers arrived, possibly members of a
Hiberno-Scottish mission. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed the ruins of a cabin in
Hafnir on the
Reykjanes peninsula,
and carbon dating indicates that it was abandoned somewhere between 770
and 880, suggesting that Iceland was populated well before 874. This
archaeological find may also indicate that the monks left Iceland before
the Norse arrived.
[14]
The first known permanent Norse settler was
Ingólfur Arnarson, who built his homestead in present-day
Reykjavík in the year 874. Ingólfr was followed by many other emigrant settlers, largely Norsemen and their
thralls, many of whom were Irish or Scottish. By 930, most
arable land had been claimed and the
Althing, a legislative and judiciary parliament, was initiated to regulate the
Icelandic Commonwealth.
Christianity was adopted around 999–1000, although
Norse paganism persisted among some segments of the population for several years.
The Commonwealth lasted until the 13th century, when the political
system devised by the original settlers proved unable to cope with the
increasing power of Icelandic chieftains.
[15]
During these early Celtic and Viking settlements, the climate was
significantly warmer and about 25% of Iceland was covered with forest
compared to 1% now.
[16]
The Middle Ages
Ósvör, a replica of an old fishing outpost outside
Bolungarvík
The internal struggles and civil strife of the
Sturlung Era led to the signing of the
Old Covenant in 1262, which ended the Commonwealth and brought Iceland under the Norwegian crown. Possession of Iceland passed to
Kalmar Union in 1415, when the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and
Sweden were united. After the break-up of the union in 1523, it technically remained a Norwegian dependency, as a part of
Denmark-Norway.
In the ensuing centuries, Iceland became one of the poorest countries
in Europe. Infertile soil, volcanic eruptions, deforestation and an
unforgiving climate made for harsh life in a society where subsistence
depended almost entirely on agriculture. The
Black Death swept Iceland twice, first in 1402–04 and again in 1494–95.
[17] The former outbreak killed 50% to 60% of the population, and the latter 30% to 50%.
[18]
Reformation and the Early Modern period
Around the middle of the 16th century, King
Christian III of Denmark began to impose
Lutheranism on all his subjects.
Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of
Hólar,
was beheaded in 1550 along with two of his sons.
The country
subsequently became fully Lutheran. Lutheranism has since remained the
dominant religion. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Denmark imposed
harsh trade restrictions on Iceland, while pirates from several countries raided its coasts.
[19][20]
A great
smallpox epidemic in the 18th century killed around a third of the population.
[21][22]
In 1783 the
Laki volcano erupted, with devastating effects.
[23] The years following the eruption, known as the
Mist Hardships (Icelandic:
Móðuharðindin), saw the death of over half of all livestock in the country, with ensuing
famine in which around a quarter of the population died.
[24]
Independence movement 1814–1918
In 1814, following the
Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the
Treaty of Kiel.
Iceland, however, remained a Danish dependency. Throughout the 19th
century, the country's climate continued to worsen, resulting in mass
emigration to the
New World, particularly
Manitoba in
Canada.
About 15,000 people out of a total population of 70,000 left.
[25]
However, a new national consciousness had arisen, inspired by
romantic and
nationalist ideas from mainland
Europe. An
Icelandic independence movement took shape in the 1850s under the leadership of
Jón Sigurðsson, riding on the burgeoning Icelandic nationalism inspired by the
Fjölnismenn
and other Danish-educated Icelandic intellectuals. In 1874, Denmark
granted Iceland a constitution and limited home rule, which was expanded
in 1904, with
Hannes Hafstein serving as the first
Minister for Iceland in the Danish cabinet.
Source: Wikipedia
There is way to much information Here at Wikipedia for this posting. I served three years in Iceland in the U.S. Navy as an Airman and never took the time to research all It has to offer. I should have.
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![Location of Iceland (dark green)in Europe (dark grey) — [Legend]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe-Iceland.svg)
