Key Facts about Iceland

Official Name
The Republic of Iceland (in Icelandic, Lýðveldið Ísland).

Country
Iceland comprises of one large island and numerous smaller ones, and is situated near the Arctic Circle. Iceland is sometimes called the “land of ice and fire” for the striking contrasts in its landscapes, where grand glaciers and magnificent fjords coexist with over 200 volcanoes, many of which are still active today. Its land area measures 103,000 km2 (40,000 square miles).

Population
290570 (Dec. 2003).
Reykjavík, population 113.288

Language
The Icelandic language belongs to the Nordic family and is virtually unchanged from the ancient Viking tongue spoken since the settlement. Icelandic is one of the oldest living languages in Europe. The Icelanders have comprehensive records of their origin as a nation, in their native language: the Sagas.
Danish and English are mandatory subjects in school. Literacy is 99.9%, the highest in the world.

History
The first people believed to have settled in Iceland were Irish monks who came in the eight century AD. They left, however, with the arrival of pagan Norsemen, who came in 874 to seek freedom from Norway’s oppressive king Harald Fairhair. In 930 the Icelanders founded the Althing, their supreme general assembly, the oldest national parliament in the world.
In 1262, Iceland became subject to Norwegian control and in 1380 came under Danish control, along with Norway. After the granting of a constitution (1874) and with an improving economy, Iceland finally became an independent sovereign state under the Danish king in 1918. The Republic of Iceland was formally declared on June 17, 1944.

Air transport
Daily flights link Iceland with more than 20 gateways in Europe and North America. Flight time is 2-4 hours to Western Europe and 5-6 hours to North America. Domestic services operate to several main regional communities, with a flight time of less than one hour.