Iceland – from Viking settlement and the Althing to an independent republic
Iceland was one of the last large lands in Europe to be settled. Irish monks may have visited earlier, but permanent settlement began in the late ninth century, traditionally dated to 874, when Norse settlers arrived, mostly from Norway and accompanied by people from the British Isles. In 930 they founded the Althing at Þingvellir, an open-air assembly often counted among the oldest parliaments in the world. Around the year 1000 the Althing adopted Christianity.
The age of the Commonwealth produced the famous sagas and Eddas, which remain treasures of world literature. Internal feuds weakened the free state, and in 1262–64 Iceland came under the Norwegian crown, later passing to Danish rule. For centuries the island endured a Danish trade monopoly, a harsh climate, epidemics and volcanic disasters such as the Laki eruption of 1783, which caused a devastating famine.
In the nineteenth century an independence movement led by Jón Sigurðsson gained ground. Iceland received home rule in 1904 and became a sovereign kingdom in personal union with Denmark in 1918. During the Second World War it was occupied first by British and then by American forces, and on 17 June 1944 the Republic of Iceland was proclaimed. Fishing, including the 'Cod Wars' with Britain, and later tourism and geothermal energy transformed the economy, while the banking crisis of 2008 was a severe shock.
Today Iceland is shaped by its dramatic natural environment, its rich literary heritage and a small, closely knit society.
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