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This page is about the country Republic of Iceland. For the chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and Ireland, see Iceland (supermarket).

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland IPA: ) is an island nation, a volcanic island in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Faroe Islands.

History

Iceland was one of the last large islands uninhabited by humans until it was discovered and settled by immigrants from Scandinavia, Ireland and Scotland during the 9th and 10th centuries. Íslendingabók (; ), written in 1122–33 claims that the Norwegian Ingólfur Arnarson was the first man to settle in Iceland (at Reykjavík) in 870. The families were accompanied by servants and slaves, some of whom were Celts or Picts from Scotland and Ireland (known as Westmen to the Norse). Some literary evidence suggests that Irish monks may have been living in Iceland before the arrival of Norse settlers, but no archæological evidence has been found.

Erik the Red, or Eiríkur Þorvaldsson, was exiled from Iceland for manslaughter in 980, and set sail to explore the lands to the west. He established the first settlements in Greenland around this time, naming the land, according to legend, to attract settlers. Eirikur's son, Leif Ericson (Leifur Eiríksson), finally set foot in the Americas around the year 1000. While some say he was blown off-course, it is most likely that he was deliberately seeking the land spotted by Bjarni Herjólfsson several years earlier. He is believed to have established a colony at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, which lasted only a few years. Despite the short stay, a sizable colony with at least eight buildings including a forge and various workshops was built. Two further attempts at colonization by his brother ended in failure.

The (, literally all-thing or general assembly) was founded in 930, marking the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth. It was the predecessor to the modern Icelandic legislature. The Althing is the oldest, still-standing, parliament in the world that has written documents to prove its age.

Iceland was a free state, without a king, until the end of the Sturlungaöld civil war in 1262, when it established a personal union with the Norwegian king with ' (). From 1387 Iceland was in practice ruled by Denmark, following the union of the two kingdoms. When that union was dissolved in 1814, through the Treaty of Kiel, which saw Norway entering a union with Sweden, Iceland became a dominion of Denmark colony. Home rule was granted by the Danish government in 1904 and independence followed in 1918. From 1918 Iceland was in a personal union with the Danish king, with foreign relations being carried out by the king, as instructed by the Icelandic government until the World War II military occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany in 1940. Subsequently, Iceland was occupied by the Allies. The Danish king remained the ' sovereign of the nation until 1944, when the current republic was founded after the 1918 treaty had lapsed.

The new republic became a charter member of NATO in 1949 and signed a treaty with the United States in 1951 to take responsibility for the defense of Iceland. Today the US is significantly reducing its military forces on the base in Keflavík *, while Iceland is trying to find replacement tenants, foreign or indigenous. The economy of Iceland remained dependent on fisheries in the post-war decades and the country has had several clashes with its neighbours over this vital resource, most notably the Cod Wars with the British. The economy has become more diverse recently owing to large investments in heavy industry such as aluminium smelting and deregulation and privatization in the financial sector. Iceland is a member of the Common market of the European Union through the EEA agreement but has never applied for membership of the EU itself.

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Iceland and List of settlements in Iceland.

Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not a part of North America. Due to cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's 18th largest island, and Europe's 2nd largest island following Great Britain.

Approximately 10 percent of the island is glaciated. Many fjords punctuate its 3,088 miles (4,970 km) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the national airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.

Iceland has four national parks: Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, Snæfellsnes National Park, and Þingvellir

Area

  • Whole country: 39,768.5 square miles (103,000 km²)
  • Vegetation: 9,191 square miles (23,805 km²)
  • Lakes: 1,065 square miles (2,757 km²)
  • Glaciers: 4,603 square miles (11,922 km²)
  • Wasteland: 24,918 square miles (64,538 km²)
Numbers are from the National Land Survey of Iceland

Subdivisions

Municipalities

There are 79 municipalities in Iceland which govern most local matters like schools, transportation and zoning.

Counties

Iceland's 23 counties are for the most part historical divisions. Currently, Iceland is split up among 26 magistrates that represent government in various capacities. Among their duties are running the local police (except in Reykjavík, where there is a special office of police commissioner), tax collection, administering bankruptcy declarations, and performing nonreligious weddings.

Regions

There are eight regions which are primarily used for statistical purposes; the district court jurisdictions also use an older version of this division.

Constituencies

Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the regions, but by an amendment to the constitution they were changed to the current six constituencies. The change was made in order to balance the weight of different districts of the country since a vote cast in the sparsely populated areas around the country would count much more than a vote cast in the Reykjavík city area. The imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system, but still exists.

Geological and volcanic activity

Iceland is located on both a geological hot spot, thought to be caused by a mantle plume, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This combined location means that the island is extremely geologically active, having many volcanoes, notably Hekla, and geysers (itself an Icelandic word). With this widespread availability of geothermal power, and also because of the numerous rivers and waterfalls that are harnessed for hydropower, residents of most towns have hot water and home heat for a low price. The island itself is composed primarily of basalt, or cooled lava.

Iceland controls Surtsey, one of the youngest islands in the world. It rose above the ocean in a series of volcanic eruptions between November 8, 1963 and June 5, 1967.

Largest lakes

Numbers are from the National Land Survey of Iceland

Deepest lakes

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Iceland".

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