steaming hot springs, geysers and volcanoes.The country was named Iceland by an early settler who was upset by seeing the coastal waters choked with ice after an unusually cold and long winter. But Iceland is not as cold as most places so far north. The Gulf Stream ocean current warms most of Iceland's coast. Iceland is also a land of midnigh sun. It is light almost 24 hours a day in June and dark for a similar period in
December.

Most Icelanders live in coastal towns. Many of them make their living from the sea, either by fishing or by working in fish processing plants. Almost all the country's exports are fish or fish products. People from Norway and from Viking colonies in the British Isles settled Iceland beginning about A.D. 870. Norway gained control of Iceland in 1262. After 1380 Denmark ruled the island. In the late 1800ïs, the Icelandic government regained control over internal affairs. In 1918, Iceland became a self-governing kingdom united
with Denmark. It gained full independence in 1944. Its official name in Icelandic is Lydveldid island (Republic of Iceland). Reykjav¡k, the capital, is the largest city with about 87,000 people.

Area: 103,000 sq. km (64,015 miles), Greatest distances - east-west, 483 km (300 miles); north-south, 306 km (190 miles). Coastline - 2,000 km (1243 miles).
Elevation: Highest-Hvannadalshnukur, 2,119 m (6952 feet) above sea level.
Lowest - sea level.
Population: estimated 1998 population 270,000; density, 2 persons
per sq. km (1,2 person per sq. mile); distribution, 91 percent urban, 9 percent rural.
Chief products: Agriculture - cattle hay, market gardening, sheep.
Fishing - capelin, cod, haddock, herring. Manufacturing and
processing - aluminium, cement, clothing, electrical equipment,
fertilizer, food processing, printing and bookbinding.
Flag: A red cross edged in white appears on a blue field. Blue is
the national colour, and red and white recall the flag of Denmark,
former ruler of Iceland.
Money: Basic unit - krona (January 1999: 1 USD = 69,41 krona, 1
Euro = 81,52 krona).

Cool Facts about Iceland

Most active volcano area in the world, has the largest waterfall and glacier in Europe, has the northern most botanical garden and golfcourse in the world, has the cleanest capital in the world, people with the longest lives on earth, is almost self-supporting on production of bananas, had the first female (Mrs. Vigd¡s Finnbogad¢ttir) president in the world.

Reykjav¡k has two theatres and a symphony orchestra.

Religion

Most Icelanders belong to the state church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (like the rest of the Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland).

Education

The government requires children from 7 to 15 years of age to attend school, except those in sparsely populated areas. In rural areas, children ride buses to school or attend boarding schools. In some isolated areas, teachers travel from farm to farm, staying several weeks at each farm to teach the children there. After six years of primary school and three years of general secondary
school, children may attend grammar school for four years. All grammar school graduates study at least five foreign languages.

The University of Iceland is located in Reykjav¡k. Iceland has teacher training and commercial colleges, and schools that teach arts and crafts, farming, home economics, marine engineering, and nursing. The country also has a school of law, a medical school, a nautical school, and a music conservatory.

western coasts and parts of the northern coast, warming the lowlands and keeping the ports free of ice all year long. Summers are mild, and winters are cool. In
Reykjav¡k, the average temperature is 11 Degrees Centigrades (52 Degrees Fahrenheit) in July and -l Degrees Centigrades (30 Degrees Fahrenheit) in January.

The inland plateau is a rugged, barren area about 762 metres (2500 feet) above sea level. A fault line (break in the earth's crust) runs across Iceland. It makes the plateau a land of violent natural wonders, including volcanoes, hot springs, steaming geysers, glaciers, and glistening lava fields. Earthquakes occasionally rock the land. More than 200 volcanoes have erupted in Iceland, spreading lava and rocks over the plateau. Some of the volcanoes are still active, including the famous Mount Hekla, which last erupted in 1980 and 1981. There are also active volcanoes under the sea off the Icelandic coasts. One erupted in 1963 south of Iceland and formed a new island called Surtsey. In 1973, a volcano that had been dormant for more than 5,000 years erupted on the island of Heimaey. It poured volcanic ash over Heimaey's only town, Vestmannaeyjar. The town's 5,300 residents abandoned their houses overnight.

Iceland has more hot springs and sulphur steam areas than any other country. Some of the hot springs are geysers that spout streams of water into the air. In fact, the word geyser comes from the name of Icelandïs most famous hot spring, Geysir which spouts water about 59 metres (194 feet) into the air.

Glaciers cover one-eighth of the land. These huge sheets of ice are as much as 1.2 kilometres (0,75 miles) thick in sorne places. The largest glacier, Vatnaj”kul1 in the southeast, covers 8,133 square kilometres (5055 sq. miles) and is as big as all the glaciers on the European continent combined. Glaciers have cut deeply into the bottoms of many fiords (long, narrow inlets of the sea) and have made good natural harbours at Akureyri and Ösafj”rdur. Ancient glaciers also dug holes in the land, and the countryside is dotted with small lakes. The largest lake is Thingvallavatn in the southwest.

Some glacial regions receive about 457 centimetres (15 feet) of rain each year. Water from the rain and melting glaciers forms rushing rivers and beautiful waterfalls. The longest river, Thj¢rsa, flows 241 kilometres (150 miles) through southern Iceland. Hydroelectric plants have been built on the swift-flowing Laxa and Sog rivers. The most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland are Gullfoss in the south and Dettifoss in the north.

Economy

Iceland has few natural resources, and only about 1 percent of the land can be used for farming. But the coastal waters are rich in fish. Iceland depends heavily on its sales of fish and fish products for the money it needs to buy appliances, fruits and vegetables, heavy equipment, and raw materials from other countries. It trades mainly with Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. Iceland became a member of the European Free Trade Association in 1970.

About one-fifth of the working people catch fish for a living or are employed in fish processing plants. Fishing crews use large trawlers (fishing boats) to drag fish nets along the ocean bottom. On small motor boats and open boats, crews often use long-lines to catch fish. Some of the long-lines may be 16 kilometres (9,95 miles) long and have as many as 20,000 hooks. The chief fish caught are capelin, cod, haddock, and herring.

Fish processing is the most important industry in Iceland. Small processing plants stand along the coasts, and there are large freezing plants in Reykjav¡k and Siglufj”rdhur. Most of the fish are dried, salted, or quick-frozen for sale to other countries. Some fresh fish are packed in ice and shipped to Great Britain and Cermany.

Iceland has a thriving publishing business. Other industries manufacture cement, clothing, electrical equipment, fertilizer, and food products. About one-third of the industrial workers are women. The Icelandic government is developing industries with aid from other countries. In 1968, an American firm completed a plant to remove diatomite (a mineral used in industrial filters) from the bottom of Lake Mìvatn. A Swiss-built aluminium smelter
(ore-melting furnace) began producing aluminium in the early 1970ïs.

About 15 per cent of the people are farmers. Iceland has about 5,300 farms scatteined over the lowlands. Most farmers raise sheep for wool, meat, and skins, and cattle for dairy products. They also raise many small Icelandic horses. The main crop is hay, which the farmers use to feed their livestock. Farmers can raise two or three crops of hay each year because of the heavy rainfall and the long hours of summer sunshine. Farmers also grow root crops, such as turnips and potatoes. Since the 1930ïs, some farmers have built greenhouses near hot springs. The warm water heats the greenhouses, and the farmers can grow tomatoes and other vegetables, flowers, grapes, and even bananas.

Transportation and Communication

Iceland has no railways. People travel mainly by bus, car and aeroplane. Except for the main streets in the cities, Iceland's roads have gravel surfaces. Iceland has an average of about one car for every two people. Icelandair, the nation's airline, provides regular European and transatlantic service. Reykjav¡k and Keflav¡k have international airports. Iceland's chief ports are Akranes, Akureyri, Hafnarfj”rdur, Ösafj”rdur, Keflav¡k, Reykjav¡k and Siglufj”rdur. Most households in Iceland have a telephone, a television set, and at least one radio. Iceland communicates with the rest of the world by
telegraphic cable and radiotelephone. Iceland has four morning newspapers, the largest "Morgunbladid" was founded in 1913.

Althing, the world's first parliament. Among the early settlers was Eric the Red, who lived in Iceland for several years before he sailed off to Greenland in 982. The 1100ïs and 1200ïs were Iceland's golden age of literature. During this time Snorri Sturluson, a poet and historian, put into writing some of Iceland's greatest
sagas (tales about Icelandic and Scandinavian heroes) and eddas (stories about gods and heroes of early Germanic tribes).

Civil wars broke out in the 1200ïs. To end the wars, the Althing agreed in 1262 to accept the king of Norway as ruler of Iceland. Norway united with Denmark in 1380, and Iceland came under Danish rule. Great disasters struck Iceland between 1400 and 1850. About two-thirds of the people died from the black death (bubonic plague) which swept the island in 1402. Much of Iceland's livestock, crops, and farmland was destroyed by lava when
volcanoes erupted in the late 1700ïs. The people did not have enough to eat, and many starved to death in the period from 1783 to 1790.

Iceland often had to import food to feed its people. In the 1600ïs and 1700ïs, Denmark imposed harsh trade restrictions on Iceland. Danish traders bought fish from the Icelanders at low prices and sold them food at high prices. As a result, many people became very poor. During the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800ïs, ships bringing food could not reach Iceland and many people starved to death.

Life on the island improved later in the 1800ïs. The AIthing, which had been abolished in 1800, was reestablished in 1843. In 1874, Denmark gave Iceland a constitution and control of its finances. Iceland became a selfgoverning kingdom that was united with Denmark in 1918.

Independence

In World War II (1939-1945), German troops occupied Denmark. The Danes could not defend Iceland, so British troops landed in Iceland in 1940 to keep Germany from seizing the country. Later, United States troops replaced the British forces. During World War II, Icelanders began demanding more control over their government. In 1944, 97 per cent of Iceland's people voted to cut all political ties with Denmark. Iceland officially gained independence on June 17,1944.

Recent Developments

Iceland joined the United Nations in 1946 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Iceland has no military forces of its own, except for a small coast guard. Under a NATO agreement, a small United States military force is stationed at an air base near Keflav¡k. Between 1958 and 1972, Iceland gradually extended its coastal fishing limits and prohibited other countries from fishing within that zone. Great Britain objected to each of the extensions but eventually agreed to abide by them. In 1975, Iceland
extended the limits to 370 kilometres (230 miles). The dispute between Iceland and Britain, which became known as the "cod war", flared up again. Icelandic, patrol boats fired on some British fishing boats and cut away their trawl nets. In 1977, following discussions of the conflict by the World Court, a settlement was reached by which Great Britain agreed not to fish within Iceland's 370-kilometre (230 miles) limits.

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