A European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, located between Europe and North America. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale.

The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding area being home to some two-thirds of the national population. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand 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 its high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.

Icelandic culture is based on the nation's Norse heritage and its status as a developed and technologically advanced society. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is closely related to Faroese and some West Norwegian dialects. The Icelanders still basically speak the language of the Vikings.

A stunningly beautiful place if you enjoy strange and desolate landscapes. Because it is so close to the Arctic Circle, the amount of daylight varies dramatically by season. The sun sets briefly each night in June, but it doesn't get fully dark before it comes back up again. In the March and September equinoxes, days and nights are of about equal length. If you go in December, it's almost 20 hours of gloom and darkness. Summer is definitely the best time to go, and even then the tourist traffic is still mild. The midnight sun is a beautiful sight and one definitely not to be missed. It is easy to lose track of time when the sun is still high in the sky at 11PM.

Iceland enjoys a maritime temperate climate and the winters are often compared with those of New England. However the rapidly changing weather has given rise to the local saying: 'If you don't like the weather, wait fifteen minutes!' It's the kind of place where it's not unusual to get rained on and sunburnt at the same time - some Icelandic people also believe that if the winter is hard and long then the summer will be good and warm. The summers are usually cooler and temperate than elsewhere at the same latitude and 20 to 25°C is considered quite warm.

History

The settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island, a Norwegian Viking who made his home where Reykjavik now stands. Over the following centuries, people of Norse and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland, from 1262 to 1918 it was part of the Norwegian, and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture. In 1994, the nation became party to an agreement that established the European Economic Area, thus allowing it to diversify from fishing to economic and financial services.

The Act of Union, an agreement with Denmark signed on 1 December 1918, valid for 25 years, recognised Iceland as a fully sovereign state in a personal union with the King of Denmark. The Government of Iceland took control of its foreign affairs and established an embassy in Copenhagen. However, it requested that Denmark implement Icelandic foreign policy toward countries other than Denmark. Danish embassies around the world then displayed two coats of arms and two flags: those of the Kingdom of Denmark and Kingdom of Iceland.

During World War II, Iceland joined Denmark in asserting neutrality. After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Althingi (Parliament) declared that the Icelandic Government should assume the Danish king's duties and take over implementation of foreign affairs and other matters previously handled by Denmark at Iceland's request. A month later, British Armed Forces occupied Iceland, violating Icelandic neutrality. In 1941, the defence of Iceland was taken over by the United States at the invitation of the Government of Iceland.

On 31 December 1943, the Act of Union Agreement expired after 25 years. Beginning on 20 May 1944, Icelanders voted in a four-day referendum on whether to terminate the personal union with the King of Denmark and establish a republic. The vote was 97% in favour of ending the union and 95% in favour of the new republican constitution. Iceland formally became a republic on 17 June 1944.

In 1946, the Allied occupation force left Iceland, which formally became a member of NATO on 30 March 1949, amid domestic controversy and riots. On 5 May 1951, a defence agreement was signed with the United States. American troops returned to Iceland and remained throughout the Cold War, finally leaving on 30 September 2006. The immediate post-war period was followed by substantial economic growth, driven by industrialisation of the fishing industry and the Marshall aid programme. The 1970s were marked by the Cod Wars—several disputes with the United Kingdom over Iceland's extension of its fishing limits. The economy was greatly diversified and liberalised when Iceland joined the European Economic Area in 1994. During the period 2003–07, Iceland developed from a nation best known for its fishing industry into a country providing sophisticated financial services, but was consequently hit particularly hard by the 2008 global financial crisis. The crisis has resulted in the greatest migration from Iceland since 1887.

Geography

Geologically, Iceland is a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the ridge along which the oceanic crust spreads and forms new oceanic crust. Iceland marks the boundary between both the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate since it has been created by rifting, and formation through volcanism, along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge—where the two plates meet. Many fjords punctuate its 4,970 km-long coastline, which is also where most settlements are situated. The island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, are a cold and uninhabitable combination of sand and mountains. Iceland has three national parks: Vatnajökull National Park, Snæfellsjökull National Park, and Þingvellir National Park.

A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the Iceland hotspot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it. This location means that the island is highly geologically active with many volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions are experienced somewhere in Iceland on an average of once every five years. The volcanic eruption of Laki in 1783–1784 caused a famine that killed nearly a quarter of the island's population; the eruption caused dust clouds and haze to appear over most of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa for several months afterward.

Dettifoss, located in northeast Iceland is the largest waterfall in Europe in terms of volume discharge, with an average water flow of 200 m3/second. There are also many geysers in Iceland, including Geysir, from which the English word is derived, as well as the famous Strokkur, which erupts every 5–10 minutes. After a phase of inactivity, Geysir started erupting again after a series of earthquakes in 2000.

With the widespread availability of geothermal power, and the harnessing of many rivers and waterfalls for hydroelectricity, most residents have inexpensive hot water and home heat. The island itself is composed primarily of basalt, a low-silica lava associated with effusive volcanism like Hawaii. Iceland, however, has a variety of volcanic types, many producing more evolved lavas such as rhyolite and andesite. Surtsey, one of the youngest islands in the world, is part of Iceland. Named after Surtr, it rose above the ocean in a series of volcanic eruptions between 8 November 1963 and 5 June 1968. Only scientists researching the growth of new life are allowed to visit the island. On 21 March 2010, a volcano in Eyjafjallajökull in the south of Iceland erupted for the first time since 1821, forcing 600 people to flee their homes. Further eruptions on 14 April forced hundreds of people to abandon their homes. The resultant cloud of volcanic ash brought major disruption to air travel across Europe.

The climate of Iceland's coast is subpolar oceanic. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures generally higher annual temperatures than in most places of similar latitude in the world. Despite its proximity to the Arctic, the island's coasts remain ice-free through the winter. Ice incursions are rare, the last having occurred on the north coast in 1969. There are some variations in the climate between different parts of the island. Generally speaking, the south coast is warmer, wetter and windier than the north. The Central Highlands are the coldest part of the country. Low-lying inland areas in the north are the most arid. Snowfall in winter is more common in the north than the south.

Few plants and animals have migrated to the island or evolved locally since the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. There are around 1,300 known species of insects in Iceland, which is a rather low number compared with other countries. The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the Arctic Fox, which came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the island.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Iceland belongs to the ecoregion of Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra. Approximately three-quarters of the island are barren of vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland which is regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Iceland is the Northern Birch, which formerly formed forest over much of Iceland along with Aspen, Rowan and Common Juniper and other smaller trees. Permanent human settlement greatly disturbed the isolated ecosystem of thin, volcanic soils and limited species diversity. The forests were heavily exploited over the centuries for firewood and timber. Deforestation caused a loss of critical topsoil due to erosion, greatly reducing the ability of birches to grow back. Today, only a few small birch stands exist in isolated reserves. The planting of new forests has increased the number of trees, but does not compare to the original forests. Some of the planted forests include new foreign species.

The animals of Iceland include the Icelandic sheep, cattle, chicken, goat, the sturdy Icelandic horse, and the Icelandic sheepdog. Many varieties of fish live in the ocean waters surrounding Iceland, and the fishing industry is a main contributor to Iceland's economy, accounting for more than half of the country's total exports. Wild mammals include the Arctic Fox, mink, mice, rats, rabbits and reindeer. Polar bears occasionally visit the island, traveling on icebergs, they are killed as they would not survive on Iceland's terrain. Birds, especially seabirds, are a very important part of Iceland's animal life. Puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes nest on its sea cliffs. Commercial whaling is practiced intermittently along with scientific whale hunts. Whale watching has become an important part of Iceland's economy since 1997.

Government

The modern parliament, Alþingi (English: Althing), was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish monarch. It was widely seen as a re-establishment of the assembly founded in 930 in the Commonwealth period and suspended in 1799. Consequently, "it is arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy." It currently has 63 members, elected for a maximum period of four years. The president is elected by popular vote for a term of four years, with no term limit. The government and local councils are elected separately from the presidential elections every four years.

Iceland has no standing army. The U.S. Air Fore maintained four to six interceptors at the Keflavík base, until 30 September 2006 when they were withdrawn.

Language

Iceland's official written and spoken language is Icelandic, a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse. It has changed less from Old Norse than the other Nordic languages, has preserved more verb and noun inflection, and has to a considerable extent developed new vocabulary based on native roots rather than borrowings from other languages. It is the only living language to retain the runic letter Þ. The closest living language to Icelandic is Faroese.

Rather than using family names as is the custom in all mainland European nations, the Icelanders use patronymics. The patronymic follows the person's given name followed by his or her parent's first name, e.g. Ólafur Jónsson ("Ólafur, Jón's son") or Katrín Karlsdóttir ("Katrín, Karl's daughter"). Members of the same family can therefore have many different "surnames". Consequently, the Icelandic telephone directory is listed alphabetically by first name rather than by surname.

Transport

Iceland has a high level of car ownership per capita; with a car for every 1.5 inhabitants, it is the main form of transport. A great number of roads remain unpaved to this day, mostly little used rural roads. Iceland currently has no railways.

Energy

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station services the Greater Reykjavík Area's hot water needs. Virtually all of Iceland's electricity comes from renewable resources —geothermal and hydro power—provide effectively all of Iceland's electricity and around 80% of the nation's total energy, with most of the remainder from imported oil used in transportation and in the fishing fleet. Iceland expects to be energy-independent by 2050.

Iceland has never produced oil or gas. On January 22, 2009, Iceland announced its first round of offshore licences for companies wanting to conduct hydrocarbon exploration and production in a region northeast of Iceland, known as the Dreki area.

Culture

Icelandic culture has its roots in Norse traditions. Icelandic literature is popular, in particular the sagas and eddas which were written during the High and Late Middle Ages. Icelanders place relatively great importance on independence and self-sufficiency; in a European Commission public opinion analysis over 85% of Icelanders found independence to be "very important". Some traditional beliefs remain today; for example, some Icelanders either believe in elves or are unwilling to rule out their existence.

Iceland is progressive in terms of lesbian, gay bisexual and trans gendered (LGBT) matters. In 1996, Parliament passed legislation to create registered partnerships for same-sex couples, covering nearly all the rights and benefits of marriage. In 2006, by unanimous vote of Parliament, further legislation was passed, granting same-sex couples the same rights as different-sex couples in adoption, parenting and assisted insemination treatment.

Cuisine

Most of Iceland's cuisine is based on fish, lamb, and dairy products. Traditional dishes include skyr (cultured dairy product similiar to yogurt, technically its a very soft cheese), harðfiskur (dried fish pieces eaten as a snack with butter), hangikjöt (smoked lamb), cured ram scrota, hákarl (cured fermented shark), svið (singed sheep's head), slátur and blóðmör (white and black pudding).

Iceland is famous for its whale meat, being one of the few places in the world where it is possible to eat Minke whale. Whaling has long been a tradition of Icelanders and is a proud part of their heritage. Most restaurants that cater to tourists will sell whale meat, and if you are feeling a little more adventurous some places will serve smoked puffin too. Other delicacies include horse meat, which I found to be lean and delicate on the palette.

The local Icelandic drinks such as Brennivín ("Black death") contain a fairly high alcohol content, so pace yourself while at the bars.

National Parks

Þingvellir National Park (pronounced "THING-vet-lihr") - National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. 30 to 50 km (20 - 30 mi) east of Reykjavík. The original site of the longest running parliament in the world (the name literally means 'parliamentary fields'), it's also where the North-American and European continental shelf plates are being torn apart.

Vatnajökull National Park (VAT-nah-yer-CUDDLE) - Iceland's newest national park was founded on June 7th, 2008 and includes the former Skaftafell and Jokulsargljufur National Parks. Vatnajökull National Park is Europe's largest national park at 12,000 km2, covering about 12 percent of the surface of Iceland. The park is home to Iceland's highest mountain, Hvannadalshnúkur, largest glacier, Vatnajökull, and Europe's largest waterfall in terms of volume discharge, Dettifoss.

Snæfellsjökull National Park (SNY-fetls-yer-CUDDLE) - Located on the tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland, this park is home to the ice-covered volcanic crater that was the setting for Jules Verne's book Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Other Attractions

Blue Lagoon - Famous outdoor pool and health centre. The spa is in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, south-western Iceland. It is situated approximately 13 km (8 mi) from the Keflavík International Airport and 39 km (24 mi) from Reykjavík. This geothermal spa in the middle of a lava field with its milky blue water is quite surreal.

Mývatn (MEE-fatn) - A lake region near Akureyri in the North of Iceland, Mývatn has an unearthly appearance owing to special types of volcanic craters throughout the lake. There are plenty of activities in this area: Smajfall (desert where sulphuric steam comes out of the ground) and Dimmuborgir (aka The Black City aka The Gates of Hell).

Gullfoss - The Golden Falls. On the edge of the inhospitable Interior of Iceland about 60 miles east of Reykjavík, the river Hvítá plunges down a double cascade to create what many people believe is the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland

Geysir - Geothermal hot spot located 10km west of Gullfoss. Geysir itself (from which the English word "geyser" derives) is no longer active, but fortunately Strokkur next door goes off every five to ten minutes.

Jökulsárlón (The Jökulsár Lagoon) - The majestic glacial lagoon in southeast Iceland and is located near Höfn on Route 1. Breiðamerkurjökull glacier retreated very quickly from 1920 to 1965 leaving this breathtaking lagoon, which is up to 190 m deep. Ice breaks off from the glacier keeping the lagoon stocked with icebergs all year round. The James Bond film Die Another Day was filmed here in 2002.

Landmannalaugar - A region of outstanding natural beauty reachable by bus (or 4x4) from Reykjavík. Situated in the Interior, it gives a taste of the uninhabited highlands at Iceland’s core.