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Iceland’s first settlers were Irish monks who came in search of a remote retreat during the eighth and ninth centuries AD. They did not remain after Norse settlers (Vikings) began arriving in the latter ninth century. Around 930 AD, the Icelanders wrote a constitution creating the Althing (Alþing in Icelandic), which exists today as the oldest active legislative assembly in the world. The Althing met at the natural amphitheater of Thingvellir, where local chieftains gathered annually to elect leaders. Among the decisions made there was the adoption of Christianity by Iceland in 1000 AD, notable for the fact that it took place peacefully.
The events of this early medieval era inspired many of the great Icelandic sagas. Late in the tenth century, Eric the Red led settlers to Greenland, giving the ice-capped island a name intended to make it more appealing to settlers. Faring even further, his son Leif Ericson became the first European to set foot in North America, where he’s believed to have settled for a time at L’Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.
In Iceland itself, the eleventh and twelfth centuries were a peaceful Golden Age when the literary
tradition of the saga (prose history) developed. In the early thirteenth century, the writings of Snorri Sturluson marked the culmination of this tradition. Unfortunately, in the Sturlunga Saga, they also chronicled the end of the era of peace, as the “Age of the Sturlung” saw a descent into clan warfare.
Following this, Iceland fell under the rule of Norwegian King Haakon in 1262. Denmark took control following the Kalmar union between Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in 1397; and Iceland did not regain full independence for more than six centuries. During this era, Icelanders faced many difficulties of both human and natural origin. Trade restrictions imposed by Denmark hamstrung the island’s economy, and there were several intervals of crop failures. Three thousand pirates plagued the island in 1627, kidnapping more than 200 people. Volcanic eruptions were sometimes devastating: Mount Hekla erupted in 1389, 1636, and 1693; and Mount Laki’s 1783 eruption killed large numbers of livestock and lead to the death of nearly 20 percent of the population from starvation.
The nineteenth century saw a rise of Icelandic nationalism, and the island regained freedom of trade in 1855. From 1874 through 1918, agreements with Denmark resulted in increasing degrees of Icelandic autonomy, with Iceland becoming a sovereign nation under the Danish Crown in 1918. In 1944, following a referendum in which 97 percent of Icelanders voted to sever ties with the Danish Crown, the establishment of the present Republic of Iceland took place in a ceremony symbolically located at Thingvellir, site of the ancient Althing.
Iceland today is a multi-party parliamentary democracy and a member of NATO. At the dawn of the 21st century, Iceland enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world, although the country has been more recently affected by the global economic downturn.