It is 874 BC. Ingólfur Arnarson sets foot on land. He has traveled the sea for a long time and is happy that he has finally found an island where he can spend the night. Little does he know that this island is close to an even larger island, of which he was practically the first inhabitant. In 2008, few people know much about Iceland. Time to boost that knowledge.
Facts
- The language is Icelandic,
- the capital is Reykjavik,
- the country is a republic,
- the most common religion is Lutheran (85%),
- the surface area is 103,000 km²,
- but only 304,367 people live there (which is less than in The Hague).
- The national currency is the Icelandic Krona (ISK),
- the internet code is ISL,
- the area code is 354 +.
Saga Islands (Icelandic history)
The first people came to Iceland around 874 AD. They were Scandinavian farmers who traveled around at random. Almost all those explorers named the island after themselves, but left after one winter. The first person to live permanently in Iceland was the Norwegian Ingólfur Arnarson, mentioned in the introduction. After landing on the island of Ingólfshöf∂i, he sailed to land and founded a village in a sheltered bay, which he called Rook Bay (Icelandic: Reykjavik ) (Ingólfur was the chief of a Norwegian village, and that village was therefore with him traveled to Iceland.). Reykjavik is still the capital of Iceland.
Other tribes and villages also moved to Iceland. Around 930 AD, all the chieftains of Iceland held a meeting for the first time. Together they formed a kind of government called the Althing . The Althing is considered the oldest parliament in the world. This parliament met every year to discuss problems and pass laws. Later, in the 11th century AD, the Althing’s power waned and wealthy families such as the Sturlungs seized power.
Iceland as a Danish colony
There was much arguing and war over power in Iceland and much blood was shed. In 1262, Norway put an end to this by taking over power in Iceland, but eventually they transferred it back to Denmark.
Around the 19th century, Icelanders began to rebel. This uprising was led by Jón Sigurdsson . The government of Denmark understood Icelandic sentiments and gave the area more extensive autonomy. In 1874, for example, the Icelanders were allowed to introduce their own constitution. In 1918 they received the rights of a free independent state, but were still under the regime of the Danish king.
During the Second World War, Denmark was occupied by the Germans. Contact with Iceland was broken and Iceland then took matters into its own hands. After all the wars were over, Denmark was no longer able to continue to dominate Iceland. The country had proven itself to the world by not becoming a mess when the Danes were gone. During their absence they had elected a government and introduced new laws. Jón Sigurdsson, who was unfortunately long dead, still got his way: Iceland was officially declared independent in 1944.
Woman power
In 1980, an event took place in Iceland that would change the entire world: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir won the Icelandic elections, making her the first democratically elected female head of state in the world.
She also won the subsequent elections (1984, 1988 and 1992). It was only in 1996 that she had to make way for Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
Geography, geysers and springs
Iceland: from volcano to fertile land.
The Earth’s surface consists of several plates. For example, you have the African Plate and the American Plate.
When plates shift, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes sometimes occur at the points where they slide against each other. Where Iceland is now, the Eurasian and American plates always push against each other. The boundary between the two is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Due to the frantic sliding of the plates, volcanic eruptions continue to occur on the Mid-Atlantic ridge, creating new islands here.
20 million years ago, things were very wrong on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a large series of volcanic eruptions followed each other for a long time. When the volcanoes had extinguished and stopped erupting, they together formed a volcanic, rocky and barren island: Iceland was born. Over the years, this island became more and more overgrown, because volcanic soil is very fertile.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge still runs straight through Iceland. It exists here as a kind of gap in the middle of the island and actually separates the island into a European and American part.
Volcanism
It had been a long time since a volcano erupted in Iceland. At least, if you look at eruptions that were above ground. Iceland is, as can be read in the heading above, an amalgamation of several extinct volcanoes. The soil is therefore (logically) very volcanic. Under the Icelandic soil it is a hell where many volcanic eruptions take place, thanks to the American and Eurasian Plates that are still happily rubbing against each other. With all those eruptions, a lot of magma (which, when it rises above the ground, is called lava ) is released. The magma makes it terribly hot underground. If you dug down in Iceland, it would get 200º hotter every kilometer you went deeper.
A lot of rainwater also drips into the volcanic chaos beneath the Icelandic ground. This, together with a few minerals found in the volcanic caves, is converted into steam by the heat. The steam floats upwards. If it finds a way out, it cools down quite quickly outside and becomes water. This is how thermal springs are formed, one of the biggest Icelandic attractions.
Geysers
Geysers are not as peaceful and gentle as thermal springs. Instead of the water slowly bubbling up, it spurts out of the ground. How is that possible? There are several ways in which a geyser can form. Method 1: a lot of rainwater drips down, but in the meantime a load of steam that has already evaporated in the volcanic caves also comes up. When this load of steam encounters the load of water, the poor water is pushed upwards by the hot steam with enormous speed. Voíla, a spouting geyser. Another way is that the water dripping down has already evaporated before it reaches the volcanic caves. The evaporated water then immediately rises again. This is, for example, the case with the Stóri Geysir (Icelandic for ,large geyser,).
The usefulness of Icelandic volcanism
Many springs and other volcanic activities in Iceland proved much more useful than attracting tourists. It was discovered that you can also get electricity from it. Some sources even have a power station (although they do have problems with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, apparently the Earth is not very happy with the power stations).
Most of the thermal springs serve as… swimming pools. The minerals in the water make the water tasty, fresh, healthy and healing. And because it is of course quite hot, you can also take a dip in a spring in winter. Iceland’s most popular spring is the Bláa Lónid (Blue Lagoon.). Its water has a strong medicinal effect and relaxes the body. In many advertisements for Iceland you see a gigantic, light blue swimming pool with steam rising from it: this is the Bláa Lónid in question.
Landafræði (Nature)
The soil in Iceland is quite friable. If you drive a car through a field in Iceland, your tracks will remain visible for years. That’s not great for trees. That’s why almost nothing grows in Iceland that is bigger than a toddler. The flora consists largely of mosses and ferns. A well-known joke is: If you are lost in an Icelandic forest, get up.
Long ago, all of Iceland was covered in birch forests, but those days are over and it is not clear how the forests disappeared.
In Iceland you will find no bees, no wasps, no snakes, no ants and nothing else poisonous or annoying. Iceland is actually a peaceful country in terms of nature.
Iceland is always full of birds, because they can be found there. The most common species are: the guillemot , the puffin and the razorbill.
Razorbills
Razorbills are seabirds. They are small and stocky, with a thick neck. They breed on steep rocky coasts (not very smart, by the way) and the female lays one egg. The females are caring for their children, they usually give birth to them in a rock crevice. Fun fact: three-quarters of all auks in the world hatch their eggs in Iceland. Apparently they like it there. The little auk is a relative of the razorbill. Unfortunately, little auks are almost extinct. But they live much the same as the auk and during the breeding period they swarm en masse along the Icelandic coast to the islet of Grimsey, a northern Icelandic island. It is not known why they love it so much in that cold place.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived another relative of the auk: the great auk. Only this beast is a bit extinct. Thanks to a species of predatory animal called humans.
Guillemots
Unlike the razorbills, guillemots are slender and graceful, although they are related to the razorbill. That is clear, because they also have a great time on a steep cliff during the breeding period. Guillemots are very sociable animals, they usually sit on a small piece of cliff with thousands of birds while breeding. Outside the breeding period, like all seabirds, you can see them fluttering above the sea. Then you have the thick-billed guillemot, which is distinguished from the normal guillemot by a white stripe on its head and a somewhat thick, short beak. The third guillemot is the black guillemot, a bird that is completely black with a white spot on its wings. They are more land birds and are known for the macho behavior of the males during the mating and breeding period.
Puffins
Striking because of its beautiful colors and its ability to walk. The other birds just waddle a bit, the puffin can stand upright and walk nicely. They are not afraid of people and flock to Iceland every year. You can count around 9 million pairs of puffins in Iceland every year. Sometimes even 10 million. And they all breed on steep cliffs. The mother puffins go even further than the razorbills in caring for eggs. They hide them in underground passages.
Neigh.
In Iceland, it has been practiced since 930 AD. bred with Icelandic horses, the so-called Icelanders. It has also been prohibited in Iceland for a long time to cross Icelanders with other horse breeds. That is why the Icelandic is the purest horse breed in the world. They also occur in the wild in Iceland. Icelanders are not officially horses, but ponies.
Íslenska (Icelandic)
The language
Icelandic is a special language because it is extremely pure. There are no words taken from other languages. For example, in Dutch they simply say ‘computer’, although that is actually an English word. You don’t get that with the Icelanders. A new word is invented for every foreign word. They say ‘ tölva’ instead of computer. And they don’t receive email, but tölvupóstur . These new words are easy to explain. Tölva and ‘counting’ are very similar. The first computers could only count, so they were universally called ‘calculator’ or ‘counter’.
The people of Iceland
Icelanders are generally quiet people. They are known for being friendly and hospitable. Icelanders are not very cheerful people (especially in winter). Many Icelanders become very depressed when winter comes because it takes a very long time before they see the sun again. The number of suicides in northern regions such as Iceland is the highest in Europe.
Food and drink
Icelanders eat a lot of fish and lamb. Nowadays even tropical fruit from geothermally heated greenhouses. Icelandic food is said to be very tasty and healthy, because in Iceland almost nothing comes from mass industries and virtually nothing is sprayed. That’s not necessary, because there are no insects. (See the chapter ‘Nature’.)
Some people think that the French eat strange things. But Icelanders make it even more colorful. Many restaurants have sheep’s head on the menu. People there also don’t say ‘no’ to a famous Icelandic specialty: rotten shark (hákarl). How to make it: catch a small shark, kill it, bury it underground and retrieve it three days later. Then have it prepared by a chef (every Icelandic chef knows how to do it) and enjoy your meal.
Facts
96% of Icelanders live in the (few) cities.
Reykjavik has 114,000 inhabitants and, together with Akureyri (17,000), is the only notable city.
An average Icelander earns $35,519 per year, compared to about $30,000 per year in the Netherlands. According to the old system, everyone in Iceland gets the surname of his/her mother/father with ‘dottir’ (daughter) or ‘son’ as a surname. ‘ (son) behind it.