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The northern European country of Iceland.
By Mark on November 16, 2008
Iceland is a large island country, it is situated southwards of the Artic Circle, within the north-east of the Atlantic Ocean and between the countries of Greenland and Great Britain. The island is 460 kilometres or 285 miles in length and in width the island is 280 kilometres or 174 miles. Amazingly enough the settlers of Iceland can really only leave on the coastal parts, because inland there is a wasteland of ash, lava flows and some ice. So agriculture is also on the coastal areas of the island. Lying on the edge of the Eurasian plate, on the Mid-Atlantic ridge lies hundreds of volcanoes rising up from it and with a hand full of them rising up from 1,500 metres or 5,000 feet. Wthin the valleys of the volcanoes and mountains are Gysers and hot springs. The climate is kept warm by the northern Gulf stream from South America. Below are some satellite images of Iceland in Europe and also the capital city Reykjavik.
This is a satellite image of the northern European country of Iceland, taken from Google Earth.
This is a satellite image taken from Google Earth of Iceland.
This is a satellite image of the capital city of Iceland Reykjavik, taken from Google Earth.
On the economic status hydroelectric power stations covers almost three-quarters of the country and there is also plenty of Geothermal energy. Six-sevenths of the island is very unproductive in agriculture. The main industry in Iceland is fishing, aswell as aluminium, ferro-silicon and fertilizers. Also there is sheep and dairy farming. Below there are some pictures of the capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik.
This is a picture taken from panoramio of the capital city Reykjarvik, Iceland.
This is a picture taken from panoramio of a church in the winter time covered by snow in no mans land, just outside Reykjavik.
The history of Iceland starts around the years of 874 to 930, when the island was conquered by the Vikings. Reykjavik was established and the country was then to be lead by a number of cheiftans who all gathered together, periodically within an official assembly. By 1005, a low speaker was introduce, creating a Supreme Court, and the authority of the pagan priests and temples. then changed into christianty, causing a major shake up to the Church and the assembly.
In 1262, Iceland was passed on to Norway, which then proceeded the two countries to move on to the Danish Crown of Denmark in 1380. With alot of hard work and perseverance, Iceland broke away from Denmark and by 1918, had finally become an independant country, although it shared the Danish king until 1943. Iceland became a republic in 1944.
During World War II, the country had been an allied base and in 1949, Iceland joined the United Nations and Nato. But bad discussion between Iceland Britain in the 1970’s, over the fishing industry, ended up causing the Cod War of 1972 – 1976. In 1985, thanks to the U.S, Iceland became a nuclear-free zone. In the 1990’s the fishing rows started to calm down, with the help of the European Fare Trade Association and the European Community. In 1993 they joined the European Union.
This is a picture taken from panoramio of a Viking Boat sculpture in Reykjavik.
This is a picture of a street in Reykjarvik, taken from panoramio.
This is a picture taken from panoramio of a part of Reykjavik, with the mountains in the distance.
I have found this post very fascinating and it just goes to show you are always learning new and interesting information, thanks for reading this post.
- Learn about Iceland on Wikipedia:
- Learn about Reykjavik on Wikipedia:
- Find Iceland on Google Earth:
- Find Reykjavik on Google Earth:
Posted in Europe | 4 Comments
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4 Responses to “The northern European country of Iceland.”
Comments
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Nick Ramsay, exploring the world from a zabuton in Japan.
11:04 am on November 17th, 2008
The “Cod War” – what a daft name! Interesting post though Mark. To bring things up to date, Iceland was one of the first countries to fall to its knees in the Great Crash of 2008.
3:10 pm on November 17th, 2008
yes I know, thats a shame, glad you liked it though, but the economy has had a massive set back in Iceland. Lets hope that they can get the Krona or something (their own currency)going again. Or maybe they will have to join the euro even if that currency is struggling a bit. The cod war is an extraordinardy event over fish wow you would have thought that their are plenty of fish out there in the ocean.
7:08 pm on November 19th, 2008
Another good and informative review mark. i love the photos.
3:10 pm on November 20th, 2008
Thanks mum, it is good and i like the photos to.