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A Brief History of Iceland
 Iceland
was first inhabited in the eighth century by Irish
Monks, making it the last European country to be
settled. Shortly after the Norwegian Vikings began
to populate the country, the Monks left, leaving
Ingolfur Arnarson, A Norwegian Chieftain, to
become the first permanent settler of Iceland in
874 AD in what is now Reykjavik. Shortly after,
Viking and Celtic settlers founded one of the
world's first Republican governments, the Althingi.
A constitution was formed based on individual
freedom, land ownership and inheritance laws,
along with an annual Supreme Court.
Christianity
was peacefully adopted in Iceland by vote in the year 1000, the same
year that Leifur Eriksson became the first
European to set foot on the North American
continent. The first Christian diocese was
established in Skalholt in 1056, followed by
Holar
in 1106. These cities quickly became the
established educational centres of Iceland.
Norway
ruled Iceland until between 1262-1264, civil war
led to a new monarchial code. In 1397, Denmark
took over rule of Iceland. A reformation of
the Church was brought about in 1551 by oppressive
Danish rulers who established a Danish trade
monopoly, which led to economic ruin for Iceland.
Well into the 18th Century, Iceland was plagued by
famine, poverty and disease until 1783, when the
Danish trade monopoly was lifted, and in 1854, a foreign trade
policy was established.
I n
1874, after a millennia of settlement, Iceland was
given a constitution and control of it's own
finances from the King of Denmark. Independence
followed in 1918, and Iceland formally became a
Republic on June 17, 1944. Iceland is still
governed by the Althing, with Presidential
elections held every four years. The current
President of Iceland is Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
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