Iceland History

Iceland

Iceland is an island country in the North Atlantic about the size of the state of Kentucky. It is one of the most active volcanic regions of the earth. There are about 200 volcanoes of various types. Within recent times, major volcanic eruptions occurred in 1765, 1783, 1878, 1947, 1961, 1963, and 1995.

Historical Background
Irish monks reached Iceland in about 790 establishing a religious retreat. The Norsemen (Normans and Vikings) discovered Iceland in 874 and colonized the island almost at once. The capital, Reykjavík (Bay of Steam Vapors), is near the site of the island's first farmstead. A settlement primarily of Norwegian seafarers and adventurers, Iceland fostered further excursions to Greenland and the coasts of North America. The Icelandic sagas, most of which relate to the island's founding and settling, are regarded as among the finest literary achievements of the Middle Ages.

In spite of Iceland's physical isolation nearly 500 miles from Scotland, its nearest European neighbor, it has remained very much a part of European civilization throughout its history. Today, Iceland is a Nordic country, modern in every respect.

The people of Iceland are a homogeneous population, descendants of the settlers who began arriving in AD 874 and continued in heavy influx for about the next 50 years. Between 60 and 80 percent were of Nordic stock from Norway; the remainder, from Scotland and Ireland, was largely of Celtic stock. No racial or ethnic differences exist today. The early Nordic and Celtic stocks have long since merged, and the small numbers of subsequent immigrants have not affected the population structure.

During Iceland's initial period of colonization, political units developed, resembling clans, consisting of free landowners. About 930 A.D. the various clans drafted the Constitution of Ulfiot, which established a rough political framework and provided for a yearly assembly, the Althing [Alþing]— the oldest parliament in the world. The Icelandic republic endured for more than three centuries (930 to 1264).

Although there were a few Christians among the early settlers, the King of Norway sent missionaries in 995 who had success among the Icelandic chieftains. In the year 1000, the Althing decided that Christianity would be the official religion of Iceland. The first Bishops were trained and ordained in Germany. Because of this, the Christianity in Iceland has a more continental European influence and was established on rather different principles than in the other Nordic nations. The Church brought about numerous reforms and for a time stabilized political relations among the clans. In the 1200s a number of chieftains challenged the power of the ecclesiastical authorities, precipitating civil war. The Icelandic republic ended in 1262, when the opposing factions appealed to the Norwegian king, Håkon IV Håkonsson, who prevailed upon Iceland to unite itself to Norway. Violating the treaty that consummated the union, the Norwegian government imposed severe restrictions on Icelandic political and commercial activity. This started a lengthy period of social and economic stagnation. Recurring natural catastrophes, particularly destructive volcanic eruptions, and epidemics of bubonic plague brought the nation to the brink of ruin. When Olaf II, King of Denmark, gained the Norwegian throne in 1380, Iceland was placed under Danish sovereignty. In 1550, the Danish king imposed a Protestant religious Reformation on the island. Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of Iceland, was beheaded without trial.

During the 1700s, famine, smallpox, sheep disease, and volcanic eruptions in 1765 and 1783 took a great toll of life and property. Iceland was captured by Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, but was returned to Denmark in 1815 by the Treaty of Vienna.

The Icelandic people struggled for political reforms during the 1800s. Under the leadership of the scholar and statesman Jón Sigurdsson (1811-1879), the Icelanders in 1874 obtained from Denmark a constitution granting limited home rule. The nation won complete domestic autonomy in 1903. By the terms of the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union in 1918, Iceland became a sovereign nation under the crown of Denmark.

Before the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the German air ministry vainly sought permission to establish bases in Iceland, ostensibly for an air service between Iceland and Germany. Following the German occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940, Iceland established direct diplomatic relations with the United States and Great Britain. A month later British troops occupied the island. The British government declared that they had taken the action to forestall a possible German invasion of Iceland. They guaranteed that there would be no interference with local administration, but the Icelandic government formally protested against the British occupation. Early in 1941 German airplanes attacked the British airfield near Reykjavík. German air attacks were also directed against shipping in Icelandic waters. On 16 May 1941, the Althing adopted four constitutional amendments designed to effect Iceland's complete separation from Denmark. On 7 July 1941, President Roosevelt of the U.S. announced that, in accordance with an agreement with the premier of Iceland, U.S. naval units were supplementing and would eventually supplant British forces in the defense of the island. American forces arrived in Iceland on the same day.

In February of 1944 the Althing unanimously adopted a resolution ending the Icelandic-Danish Act of Union. The resolution was approved by a plebiscite held in May. Iceland was formally proclaimed a republic on 17 June 1944.

In 1946 all American troops were withdrawn from the island, with the provision however, that an airport be made available for use by both civil and military aircraft operated by or on behalf of the U.S. obligations in occupied Germany. The Icelandic government accepted these proposals. Iceland became the fifty-third member of the United Nations on 9 November 1946.

Population Statistics
By the year 1000, not long after the island was settled, it is estimated that as many as 60,000-70,000 people already lived in Iceland. By 1311 the population had likely risen as high as 72,000. But disasters, famines, and disease continually beset the settlement. The first Black Plague epidemic in 1404-1406 is said to have killed two-thirds of the island’s inhabitants. The second wave of plague in the 1490s was only slightly less deadly. Smallpox also ravaged the country at frequent intervals before vaccination was imposed by law in 1821. The first official census in 1703 found only 53,358 souls. By 1769 the population had dropped to 46,201 and had risen only to 47,227 in 1801. The population grew slowly, with 56,000 in 1835, 59,000 in 1850, and 72,500 in 1880. Between 1870 and 1901 there was a large-scale emigration to North America because of unfavorable economic conditions in Iceland. For some areas of the north as much as 20% of the population left. This heavy emigration resulted in another population decrease, down to 71,900 in 1890. By 1901, there were 78,500 people. In 1910 the population was up to 85,000 plus there were some 15,000 Icelanders living in North America. A rapid growth in population paralleled accelerated economic growth in the early decades of the 20th century. In 1940 the country had 121,474 inhabitants; in 1970 the count was up to 204,930. The census of 1984 showed 240,443. During that year, the population of major cities was: Reykjavík 88,745; Kópavogur 14,546; Akureyri 13,711; Hafnarfjördur 12,979; Keflavík 6,907. The 1990 population was estimated at 250,000.

Presently, 96.9% of the country's population is Lutheran with 3.1% professing other religions.

Web Sites

 * Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 (Iceland)
 * Icelandic and Old Norse History and Culture
 * Cornell University Library Resources about Iceland