Iceland Vacations

ICELAND

Vacation in Iceland and you’ll enter a whole new realm of experience. You’ll discover original nature as you’ve never seen it before, and the equally original people for whom timeless nature, ancient heritage and modern lifestyle coexist in harmony. The freedom to roam in the city or the wilds as you please, explore and have fun — this is the key to the Iceland experience.

Iceland is an island of 39,756 square miles, about the size of Virginia, with an average height of 500m above sea level. Its highest peak, Hvannadalshnukur, rises to 2,119m, and glaciers, including Vatnajokull, the largest in Europe, cover over 11 percent of the country.

Situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is a hot spot of geothermal activity. Thirty post-glacial volcanoes have erupted in the past two centuries, and natural hot water supplies much of the population with cheap, pollution-free heating. Rivers, too, are harnessed to provide inexpensive hydroelectric power. The electrical current is 220 volts, 50 Hz.

Of a population of Iceland numbering just over a quarter of a million, half live in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, and its neighboring towns in the southwest. Keflavik International Airport is located about 50km from the capital. The highland interior is uninhabited (and uninhabitable), and most of the population is situated along the coast.

The economy of Iceland is heavily dependent upon fisheries, which are the nation’s major resource, and almost 60 percent of all exports are made up of seafood products. Yet only a small proportion of the workforce is active in this sector (5 percent in fishing, 6.5 percent in fish processing), and over 50 percent of the workforce is employed in services, public and other.

In spite of its mid-Atlantic location, Iceland is on Greenwich Mean Time all year round. There is a five-hour time difference between New York and Iceland. Iceland is served only by Icelandair from the USA with departures from New York, Boston, Baltimore and Minneapolis. Flight time is about 5-6 hours from the USA and 4-5 hours from Europe. Stop-overs in Iceland are allowed on flights between USA and Europe usually at no additional airfare.

Brief History of Iceland
The first people known to have inhabited Iceland were Irish monks or hermits who came in the eighth century, but left with the arrival of the pagan Norsemen, who systematically settled Iceland in the period 870 - 930 A.D. Iceland was thus the last European country to be settled.

The main source of information about the settlement period in Iceland is the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), written in the 12th century, which gives a detailed account of the first settlers. According to this book IngŰlfur Arnarson was the first settler. He was a chieftain from Norway, arriving in Iceland with his family and dependents in 874. He built his farm in Reykjavík, the site of the present capital. During the next 60 years or so viking settlers from Scandinavia, bringing some Celtic people with them, spread their homesteads over the habitable areas. In the year 930, at the end of the Settlement period, a constitutional law code was accepted.

In the year 1000 Christianity was peacefully adopted by the Icelanders at Alţingi, which met for two weeks every summer, attracting a large proportion of the population. The first bishopric was established at Skálholt in South Iceland in 1056, and a second at Hólar in the north in 1106. Both became the country's main centres of learning.

In the late tenth century Greenland was discovered and colonized by Icelanders under the leadership of Eirik the Red, and around the year 1000 Icelanders were the first Europeans to set foot on the American continent, 500 years before Columbus, although their attempts to settle in the New World failed.

In 1262-64 internal feuds, amounting to a civil war, led to submission to the King of Norway and a new monarchial code in 1271. When Norway and Denmark formed the Kalmar Union in 1397, Iceland fell under the sovereignty of the King of Denmark. After the "Golden Age" of Iceland's independence had ended , things went from bad to worse. The Danish kings brought about the Reformation of the Church in 1551, which resulted in Danish control over the Church, and confiscation of its great wealth. They replaced the Hansa and English trade with an oppressive Danish trade monopoly, and established absolute monarchy in 1662, thus transferring all governing power to Copenhagen. While this arrangement was very profitable for the Danish Crown, these changes were disastrous for the Icelandic economy. Further problems arose in the food supply due to cooling of the climate during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The eighteenth century marked the most tragic age in Iceland's history. In 1703, when the first complete census was taken, the population was approximately 50,000, of whom about 20% were beggars and dependents. From 1707 to 1709 the population sank to about 35,000 because of a devastating smallpox epidemic. Twice more the population declined below 40,000, both during the years 1752-57 and 1783-85, owing to a series of famines and natural disasters.

As a consequence of the plight of the populace the trade monopoly was modified in 1783 and all subjects of the Danish king given the right to trade in Iceland.

In 1843 Alţingi was reinstated as a consultative assembly. In 1854 trade monopoly was abolished entirely. In 1874, when Iceland celebrated the millennium of the first settlement, it received a constitution from the Danish king and control of its own finances.

In 1904 Iceland got home rule and finally in 1918 sovereignty, but was united with Denmark under the Danish crown. In 1940 Iceland was occupied by British forces, which were replaced in 1941 by American troops by special agreement between the Icelandic and American governments. Finally, on 17 June 1944, the Republic of Iceland was formally proclaimed at Ţingvellir. The country is governed by the Althing (parliament), whose members are elected every four years, along with the president. President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was elected in June 1996 to succeed Vigdis Finnbogadottir. The head of state plays no part in day-to-day politics.

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