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History
History
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Settlement and the establishment of the Commonwealth
The first people thought to have inhabited Iceland were Irish monks or hermits who came in the eighth century, but left with the arrival of Norsemen, who systematically settled Iceland in the period circa AD 870-930.
The first known permanent Norse settler was Ingólfur Arnarson, who built his homestead in Reykjavík in 874.
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 Commonwealth.
Christianity was probably adopted in 999.
The Commonwealth lasted until 1262, when the political system devised by the original settlers proved unable to cope with the increasing power of Icelandic chieftains.
Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era
The internal struggles and civil strife of the Sturlung Era led to the signing of the Old Covenant, which brought Iceland under the Norwegian crown.
Possession of Iceland passed to Denmark-Norway in the late 14th century when the kingdoms of Norway and Denmark were united in 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.
The Black Death swept Iceland in 1402–1404 and 1494–1495, each time killing approximately half the population.
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, along with two of his sons, and the country subsequently became fully Lutheran.
Lutheranism has since remained the dominant religion.
In the 1600s and 1700s, Denmark imposed harsh trade restrictions on Iceland, while pirates from England, Spain and Algeria (Turkish Abductions) raided its coasts.
A great smallpox epidemic in the 18th century killed around one-third of the population.
In 1783 the Laki volcano erupted, with devastating effects.
The years following the eruption, known as the Mist Hardships (Icelandic: Móðuharðindin), saw the death of over half of all livestock in the country, with ensuing famine in which around a quarter of the population died.
Independence and recent history
In 1814, following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the Treaty of Kiel.
Iceland remained a Danish dependency.
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 signed on 1 December 1918, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state under the Danish king.
During the last quarter of the 19th century many Icelanders emigrated to North America, largely Canada, in search of better living conditions.
Iceland during World War II joined Denmark in asserting neutrality.
After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Iceland's parliament declared that the Icelandic government should assume the Danish king's authority and take control over foreign affairs and other matters previously handled by Denmark on behalf of Iceland.
A month later, British military forces occupied Iceland, violating Icelandic neutrality.
In 1941, responsibility for the occupation was taken over by the United States Army.
Allied occupation of Iceland lasted throughout the war.
On 31 December 1943, the Act of Union agreement expired after 25 years.
Beginning on 20 May 1944, Icelanders voted in a four-day plebiscite on whether to terminate the union with Denmark and establish a republic.
The vote was 97% in favour of ending the union and 95% in favour of the new republican constitution.
Iceland formally became an independent republic on 17 June 1944, with Sveinn Björnsson as the first President.
The Allied occupation force left in 1946.
Iceland became a member of NATO on 30 March 1949, amid domestic controversy and riots and on 5 May 1951, a defence agreement was signed with the United States.
American troops returned to Iceland and remained throughout the Cold War until autumn 2006.
The immediate post-war period was followed by substantial economic growth, driven by industrialization of the fishing industry and Marshall aid and Keynesian government management of the economies of Europe, all of which promoted trade.
The 1970s were marked by the Cod Wars – several disputes with the United Kingdom over Iceland's extension of its fishing limits.
The economy was greatly diversified and liberalized following Iceland's joining of the European Economic Area in 1992.
Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
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