History
Iceland was first inhabited in the late 9th and 10th centuries. The Norse were the main migrants to move to the island, and in 930 CE, Iceland's governing body created a constitution and an assembly. The assembly was called the Althingi. Following the creation of its constitution, Iceland was independent until 1262. In that year it signed a treaty that created a union between itself and Norway. When Norway and Denmark created a union in the 14th century, Iceland became a part of Denmark.
In 1874, Denmark gave Iceland some limited independent ruling powers, and in 1904 after a constitutional revision in 1903, this independence was expanded. In 1918, the Act of Union was signed with Denmark, which officially made Iceland an autonomous nation that was united with Denmark under the same king.
Germany then occupied Denmark during World War II and in 1940, communications between Iceland and Denmark ended and Iceland attempted to independently control all of its lands. In May 1940 though, British forces entered Iceland and in 1941, the United States entered the island and took over defensive powers. Shortly thereafter, a vote took place and Iceland became an independent republic on June 17, 1944.
In 1946, Iceland and the U.S. decided to end U.S. responsibility for maintaining Iceland’s defense but the U.S. kept some military bases on the island. In 1949, Iceland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and with the start of the Korean War in 1950, the U.S. again became responsible for defending Iceland militarily. Today, the U.S. is still Iceland’s main defensive partner but there are no military personnel stationed on the island. According to the U.S. Department of State, Iceland is the only member of NATO with no standing military.
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Geography
Iceland has a varied topography but it is one of the most volcanic regions in the world. Because of this, Iceland has a rugged landscape dotted with hot springs, sulfur beds, geysers, lava fields, canyons, and waterfalls. There are approximately 200 volcanoes in Iceland, most of which are active.
Iceland is a volcanic island primarily because of its location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which separates the North American and Eurasian Earth plates. This causes the island to be active geologically, as the plates are constantly moving away from each other. In addition, Iceland lies on a hotspot (like Hawaii) called the Iceland Plume, which formed the island millions of years ago. As a result, Iceland is prone to volcanic eruptions and features the aforementioned geologic features such as hot springs and geysers.
The interior portion of Iceland is mostly an elevated plateau with small areas of forest, but it has little land that’s suitable for agriculture. In the north, however, there are extensive grasslands that are used by grazing animals such as sheep and cattle. Most of Iceland’s agriculture is practiced along the coast.
Iceland’s climate is temperate because of the Gulf Stream. Winters are usually mild and windy and summers are wet and cool.