History of Iceland

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History of Iceland
Timeline of Icelandic history
Middle ages Settlement of Iceland 870–930      Saga Age 870–1056 Icelandic Commonwealth 930–1262      Farthings 965      Christianization 999–1118 Sturlung era 1180–1264      Staðamálin 1178–1297 Norwegian rule 1262–1380      Old Covenant 1262 Danish rule 1380–1918      Reformation 1536–1627      Danish trade monopoly 1602–1874 Eruption of Laki 1783–1785
Modern era Independence movement 1809–1847 Prohibition 1915–1989 Kingdom of Iceland 1918–1944      Act of Union World War II 1939–1944      British invasion of Iceland 1940      Allied occupation of Iceland 1940–1945           Invader relationships Founding of republic 1944 Iceland in the Cold War 1947–1991      Cod Wars 1948–1976      Anti-NATO riot 1949 Financial crisis 2008–2011 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–2022
Related topics Aristocracy Economic history Icelandic nationality Jewish history Military history Rulers
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The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and the people they enslaved from Western Europe, particularly in modern-day Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest of Western Europe had been settled. Recorded settlement has conventionally been dated back to 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks from Ireland, known as papar according to sagas, may have settled Iceland earlier.

The land was settled quickly, mainly by Norsemen who may have been fleeing conflict or seeking new land to farm. By 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the world's oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century, Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason. During this time, Iceland remained independent, a period known as the Old Commonwealth, and Icelandic historians began to document the nation's history in books referred to as sagas of Icelanders. In the early thirteenth century, the internal conflict known as the age of the Sturlungs weakened Iceland, which eventually became subjugated to Norway over the 13th century. The Old Covenant (1262–1264), and the adoption of Jónsbók (1281) effectively ended the Icelandic Commonwealth. Norway, in turn, was united with Sweden (1319) and then Denmark (1376). Eventually all of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule. The subsequent strict Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was detrimental to the economy. Iceland's resultant poverty was aggravated by severe natural disasters like the Móðuharðindin or "Mist Hardships". During this time, the population declined.

Iceland remained part of Denmark, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century, an independence movement emerged. The Althing, which had been suspended in 1799, was restored in 1844, and Iceland gained sovereignty after World War I, becoming the Kingdom of Iceland on 1 December 1918. However, Iceland shared the Danish Monarchy until World War II. Although Iceland was neutral in the Second World War, the United Kingdom invaded and peacefully occupied it in 1940 to forestall a Nazi occupation, after Denmark was overrun by the German Wehrmacht.^[1] Due to the island's strategic position in the North Atlantic, the Allies occupied the island until the end of the war, with the United States taking over occupation duties from the British in 1941. In 1944, Iceland severed its remaining ties with Denmark (then still under Nazi occupation) and declared itself a republic. Following the Second World War, Iceland was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and joined the United Nations one year after its establishment. Its economy grew rapidly, largely through fishing, although this was marred by disputes with other nations.

Vigdis Finnbogadottir assumed Iceland's presidency on August 1, 1980, the first elected female head of state in the world.^[2]

Following rapid financial growth, the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis occurred. Iceland continues to remain outside the European Union.

Iceland is very remote, and so has been spared the ravages of European wars but has been affected by other external events, such as the Black Death and the Protestant Reformation imposed by Denmark. Iceland's history has also been marked by a number of natural disasters.

Iceland is a relatively young island in the geological sense, being formed about 20 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but it is still growing from fresh volcanic eruptions. The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to c. 16 million years ago.