Icelandic_Culture

= Icelandic Culture! =

The **Republic of Iceland** ( //**Ísland** or **Lýðveldið Ísland**)// is an [|island country] located in the [|North Atlantic Ocean]. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its [|capital] and largest city is [|Reykjavík].



According to tradition recorded in //[|Landnámabók]//, the [|settlement of Iceland] began in 874 when 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] origin settled in Iceland. Until the [|20th century], the [|Icelandic population] relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1918 a part of the [|Norwegian], and later the [|Danish] monarchies. In the 20th century, Iceland's economy and [|welfare system] developed quickly. In recent decades, Iceland has implemented free trade in the [|European Economic Area] and diversified from fishing to new economic fields in [|services], [|finance] and various [|industries].

Today, Iceland has some of the world's highest levels of economic and civil freedoms. In 2007, Iceland was ranked as the [|most] [|developed country] in the world by the [|United Nations' Human Development Index]. It was also the [|fourth] [|most productive country] per capita, and one of the most [|egalitarian], as rated by the [|Gini coefficient]. Icelanders have a rich [|culture and heritage], such as cuisine and poetry and the medieval [|Icelandic Sagas] are internationally renowned. Iceland is a member of the [|UN], [|NATO], [|EFTA], [|EEA] and [|OECD]. Iceland is the sole partner of the [|Faroe Islands] signatory to the [|Hoyvík Agreement].

Iceland has been especially badly affected by the [|current world financial crisis]. The nation's [|ongoing economic crisis] has caused significant unrest and made Iceland the first western country to borrow from the [|International Monetary Fund] since 1976. In February 2009 a [|minority government] took office, headed by [|Johanna Sigurdardottir], the world's first [|openly gay] [|head of government] in modern times.

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