 Iceland — (īs´lənd) |
About The People
Did You Know...... In 1996 a volcanic eruption beneath Vatnajokull caused a glacier outburst flood (jokulhlaup). »» More
Fashion... Icelanders like to wear clothes from the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. Icelanders co »» More
Socializing... Icelanders wait impatiently for the first sign of spring. Newspapers run front-page stori »» MoreFamily... Icelandic people rate family as more important than either their social life, their possessions or t »» More
Sports & Recreation... Students partake in a range of sports, with handball and soccer being the two most popular. »» More
| World Region: Europe
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Statistics
Capital Cities... Reykjavik »» History of Reykjavik
Population: 301,931
GDP: $11,890,000,000 (USD)
Total Area: 103,000 (sq km) 39,768 (sq mi)
Currency: Icelandic krona (ISK)
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Iceland History
The first people known to have inhabitated Iceland were Irish monks or hermits who came in the eighth century, but left with the arrival of the pagan Norsemen, who systematically settled Iceland in the period 870 - 930 A.D. Ingolfur Arnason fled from Norway, and his followers settled in Iceland about A.D. 870. He was a chieftain from Norway, arriving in Iceland with his family and dependents in 874. He built his farm in Reykjavík, the site of the present capital. During the next 60 years or so, viking settlers from Scandinavia, bringing some Celtic people with them, spread their homesteads over the habitable areas. In the year 930, at the end of the Settlement period, a constitutional law »» More |