Iceland
(Icelandic, Ísland) is a country in Europe. It is in the north of
the Atlantic Ocean. Iceland is 300 kilometers east of Greenland and 1000
kilometers west of Norway. Iceland has an area of 39,769 square miles.
History
The first people who lived
on Iceland were Irish monks. They came to Iceland around the year 800.
In the 9th century the Vikings
went to live on Iceland. The first Viking who lived on Iceland was Flóki
Vilgerðarson. He was also the one who gave Iceland its name. Ingólfur
Arnarson, a chieftain from Norway went to live in South West Iceland. He
founded the city of Reykjavík.
In 930 the Icelandic rulers
wrote a constitution. They created the Althing, a kind of parliament in
the town Þingvellir. Therefore Iceland is the oldest existing democracy.
In 985, Erik the Red was
sent away from the island because he had killed someone. He sailed to the
west and discovered Greenland. Eric's son Leif Ericson discovered America
in the year 1000. He called it Vinland. The voyages of Eric, Leif and others
were written down in the sagas (long storys).
In 1262, Iceland became part
of Norway. In 1814 it became part of Denmark. In the 19th century, many
Icelanders wanted to be independent from Denmark. In 1918, Iceland got
many powers of its own, but the king of Denmark was still king of Iceland.
When Germany took over Denmark
on April 9 1940, the Althing decided that Icelanders should rule the country
themselves, but they didn't declare independence yet. British and later
American soldiers occupied Iceland to prevent it from being attacked by
the Germans. In 1944 Iceland finally became fully independent.
After World War II Iceland
became member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), but not
of the European Union. Between 1958 and 1976 there were three debates between
Iceland and the United Kingdom about the rights to catch codfish. They
were called the Cod Wars.
In 1980, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
was elected president of Iceland. She was the first woman ever to be elected
president of a country.
People
The people in Iceland are
mostly Scandinavian. The language they speak is Icelandic. The language
has not changed much in 1,000 years, so Icelanders are still able to read
the sagas about the Vikings without many problems.
Almost all people in Iceland
are Christian. Most of them are Lutheran.
Towns and cities
Reykjavík is the capital
city of Iceland. Reykjavík is also the most important port in Iceland.
Other important towns in Iceland are Akureyri, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjördhur,
Keflavík, and Vestmannaeyjar.
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