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Island
| Location: | 65°N, 18°W Northern Europe, island between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic, north-west of Great Britain. |
| Flag: | blue with a white bordered red cross |
| Area: | 103,000 km2 total 100,250 km2 land area |
| Climate: | mild and windy winters, wet and cool summers |
| Terrain | predominantly plateau with interspersed mountain peaks and ice fields. The coast is deeply indented by bays and fjords. |
| Natural Resources: | fish, hydropower, diatomite, geothermal energy, geothermal energy |
| Inhabitants: | Population: 301,931 (July 2007) |
Iceland`s history:
| 870-930 | Settlement of Iceland |
| 930 | Founding of the Althing and the Icelandic Commonwealth |
| 930-1030 | Saga Age |
| 982 | Erik the Red discovers Greenland |
| 1000 | Adoption of Christianity Leif Eriksson discovers the North American continent |
| 1030-1120 | Epoch of Peace |
| 1120-1130 | literary epoch |
| 1230-1264 | Sturlung Age |
| 1241 | Snorri Sturluson Murdered |
| 1262-1264 | Iceland falls under Norwegian rule |
| 1380 | Iceland comes under Danish rule with Norway |
| 1402-1404 | plague epidemic |
| 1540-1550 | Reformation |
| 1602 | Royal Trade Monopoly |
| 1662 | imposition of absolutism |
| 1783-1785 | Eruption in Lakagígar |
| 1787 | Trade Permission for All Danish Subjects |
| 1800 | Dissolution of the Alþing (Althing) |
| 1809 | Danish adventurer Jürgen Jürgensen seizes power in Iceland |
| 1818 | Founding of the National Library |
| 1843 | Re-establishment of the Alþingi (Althing) |
| 1854 | Release of foreign trade |
| 1863 | Foundation of the National Museum |
| 1874 | Millennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Iceland |
| 1879 | Jón Sigurðsson, first President of the Republic of Iceland, dies |
| 1904 | self-government |
| 1911 | Foundation of the University of Iceland |
| 1918 | Sovereignty under the Danish flag |
| 1920 | Establishment of the Supreme Court |
| 1940 | British forces occupy Iceland |
| 1945 | Iceland becomes a member of the United Nations |
| 1947 | Iceland is a founding member of the OEEC (predecessor to the OECD) |
| 1949 | Iceland joins NATO |
| 1950 | Iceland joins the Council of Europe Founding of the National Theater and the Symphony Orchestra |
| 1951 | Defense pact between Iceland and the USA |
| 1952 | Iceland joins Nordic Council Iceland`s fishing limit extended to 4 nautical miles |
| 1958 | Iceland`s fishing zone extended to 12 nautical miles |
| 1963-67 | Emergence of Surtsey |
| 1965 | Agreement between Iceland and Denmark on the return of Icelandic manuscripts from Copenhagen |
| 1968 | Nordic House opens in Reykjavik |
| 1970 | Iceland becomes a member of EFTA |
| 1971 | Arrival of the first manuscripts from Copenhagen |
| 1972 | Icelandic fishing zone will be extended to 50 nautical miles |
| 1973 | Volcanic eruption on Heimaey (Westman Islands) |
| 1974 | 1100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland |
| 1975 | Icelandic fishing zone extended to 200 nautical miles |
| 1986 | Regan and Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik |
| 1994 | Fiftieth Anniversary of the Republic of Iceland |
| 1995 | Iceland participates in the European Economic Area (EEA) |
| 1996 | Volcano eruption in Vatnajokull |
| 1997 | Geysir Iceland Information Service Sees Light on Information Superhighway for the First Time |
| 1999 | Iceland takes second place in the Grand Prix de Chans a la sions | for the first time in history with Selma
| 2000 | Hekla volcano erupts in February |
The language
The national language in Iceland is Icelandic.It belongs to the North Germanic group of Indo-European languages. Like Norwegian and Farengish, Icelandic has its origins in, but is linguistically related to, Old West Norse Closest to Old West Norse.