Flýtilyklar
Iceland at a glance
Iceland, an island in the North Atlantic, has a landscape distinguished by volcanoes, glaciers and hot springs. Along with political and economic stability, Icelandic society is characterised by near-universal literacy and globally high living standards, allowing for an active media which includes four daily newspapers, half a dozen TV stations and a number of radio stations. While football is the most popular sport in terms of the number of practitioners, team handball is considered by some the true national sport, because Icelanders have long had an internationally strong male national handball team.
After Britain, Iceland is the second largest island in Europe. Since it is located at Europe’s western frontier, the Norsemen and Celts who settled it did not arrive until the ninth and tenth centuries. After a long period of Danish rule, Iceland became a sovereign republic in 1944, with a parliamentary democratic government.
Located at a so-called “hot spot” on the mostly underwater Atlantic ridge, Iceland has numerous active volcanoes and an abundance of hot springs, which provide the inhabitants with warm water for bathing and heating their buildings. About 11% of the landscape is covered by lava and another 12% by glaciers. Most of the people live in towns and villages by the fjords and bays along the seacoast. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the population increased considerably, and today numbers about 300,000, of whom around 170,000 live in the capital city, Reykjavík, and its vicinity.
The native language, Icelandic, is spoken by the whole population and has remained very similar to the Old Norse that was spoken in Viking times. The vast majority of Icelanders belong to the state church, which is evangelical Lutheran.
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