Iceland

Where the name comes from

Iceland means “land of ice” in Old Norse; the Landnámabók says Flóki Vilgerðarson named it after seeing a fjord full of drift ice.

First people

Norse settlers and people from Ireland and Scotland arrived from around 870.¹

Known for

Iceland is known for volcanoes, geysers and glaciers, and its settlers founded the Althing at Thingvellir in 930, one of the oldest parliaments still running.^2,3

Outside contact

Norway took over in 1262 and Denmark in 1380.¹

The modern country

Iceland declared itself a republic in 1944, at the same Thingvellir site where the Althing first met.²