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Due to its location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is very volcanically and geologically active; this identifies the landscape in various ways. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers stream to sea through the lowlands. Due to the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude, which provides habitable environment and nature. Iceland has a history of habitation since about the year 874 when, according to Landnámabók, the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland. Until the twentieth century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1944 a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. In the 20th century, Iceland's economy and welfare system developed quickly. Today, Iceland is a highly developed country, the world's fifth and second in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and human development respectively. It is based upon a free market economy where service, finance, fishing and various industries are the main sectors. Thanks to its beautiful and exotic scenery, the tourism industry is growing rapidly. Iceland is a member of the UN, NATO, EEA, and OECD. History Although there is some evidence indicating the early presence of Irish monks, it is generally believed that Iceland was found and settled by Norse explorers. Of these, the first was Ingólfur Arnarson, who built his homestead in Reykjavík, which is now the capital of modern day Iceland. Ingólfur was followed by many other emigrant settlers, largely Norsemen and their Irish slaves. By 930, most arable land had been claimed and the Althing, a legislative and judiciary parliament, was founded as the political hub of the Icelandic Free State. Christianity was peacefully adopted in 1000. The Free State lasted until 1262, at which point the political system devised by the original settlers proved unable to cope with the increasing consolidation of power amongst the Icelandic chieftains. The internal struggles and civil strife of the Sturlungaöld led to the signing of Old Covenant, which brought Iceland under the Norwegian crown. Possession of Iceland passed to Denmark-Norway in the late 14th century when Norway and Denmark were united via the Kalmar Union. In the ensuing centuries, Iceland became one of the poorest countries in Europe. Infertile soil, volcanic eruptions and an unforgiving climate made for harsh life in a society whose subsistence depended almost entirely on agriculture. Around the middle of the 16th century, King Christian III of Denmark began to impose Lutheranism on all his subjects. The last Catholic bishop in Iceland was beheaded in 1550, after which the country became fully Lutheran. Lutheranism has remained the dominant religion since then. In 1814, following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the Treaty of Kiel. Iceland, however, remained a Danish dependency. The country's climate worsened during the 19th century, leading to mass emigrations to North America, largely Canada. Meanwhile, a new independence movement arose under the leadership of Jón Sigurðsson, inspired by the romantic and nationalist ideologies of mainland Europe. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which was expanded in 1904. The Act of Union, an agreement with Denmark made on December 1, 1918, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. During World War II, German occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940 severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. A month later, British military forces sailed into Reykjavík harbour, beginning the invasion and occupation of Iceland by Allied forces which would last throughout the war. In the summer of 1941, the British left and the occupation was taken over by the United States army. With American assistance, and following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944. The occupation force left in 1946. On May 5, 1951, two years after Iceland joined NATO, a defense agreement was signed with the United States -- American troops returned and stayed as part of the defense agreement until the autumn of 2006. Geography Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of North America, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents. Because of cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's eighteenth-largest island, and Europe's second largest island following Great Britain. Approximately eleven percent of the island is glaciated.[2] Many fjords punctuate its 4,970 kilometre (3,088 mi) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the international airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.[3] The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the arctic fox. It came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the island. There are around 1,300 known species of insects in Iceland, which is rather low compared with other countries (there are about 925,000 known species in the world). During the last Ice Age almost all of the country was covered by permanent snow and glacier ice. This explains the low number of living species in Iceland. When humans arrived, birch forest and woodland probably covered 25-40% of Iceland’s land area, but soon the settlers started to remove the trees and forests to create fields and grazing land. During the early twentieth century the forests were at their minimum and were almost wiped out of existence. The planting of new forests has increased the number of trees since, but this can not be compared with the original forests. Some of those planted forests have included new foreign species. Part of the information are from www.wikipedia.org respecting the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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