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1) Akranes
2) Akureyri
3)
Árborg
4)
Fjarðabyggð
5) Garðabær
6)
Hafnarfjörður
7) Kópavogur
8)
Mosfellsbær
9)
Reykjanesbær
10)
Reykjavík
Iceland Listeni/ˈaɪslənd/ (
Icelandic:
Ísland,
IPA: [ˈistlant])[5] is a Nordic island country marking the juncture between the
North Atlantic and Arctic
Oceans, on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge.[6]
The country has a population of 321,857 and a total area of 103,
000 km2 (40,000 sq mi), which makes it the most sparsely populated country in
Europe.[7] The capital and largest city is
Reykjavík,[8] with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Reykjavík is the most northern capital in the world.
Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists mainly of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the
Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the
Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in
AD 874 when the chieftain
Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island.[9]
Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. During the following centuries,
Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls of
Gaelic origin. From 1262 to
1918, Iceland was part of the
Norwegian and later the
Danish monarchies. The country became independent in 1918 and a republic was declared in
1944.
Until the
20th century, the
Icelanders relied largely on fishing and agriculture, and the country was one of the least developed in the region. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid through the
United States' Marshall Plan following
World War II brought prosperity and, by the
1990s, Iceland had developed as one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. In
1994, Iceland became party to the
European Economic Area, which supported diversification of the economy into economic and financial services.
Iceland has a free-market economy with relatively low corporate taxes compared to other
OECD countries.[10] It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens.[11] In
2013, it was ranked as the
13th most-developed country in the world by the
United Nations' Human Development Index.[4]
In 2008, the nation's entire banking system systemically failed, affected by the worldwide crisis. This resulted in substantial political unrest
. In the wake of the crisis, Iceland instituted "capital controls" that made it impossible for many foreigners to get their money out of the country. Though designed to be temporary, the controls remain and are among the biggest hurdles for attracting international investment in the
Icelandic economy.[12] Iceland ranks high in economic and political stability, though it is still in the process of recovering from the crisis.[13]
Gender equality is highly valued in Iceland. In the
Global Gender Gap Report 2012, Iceland holds the top spot for the least gap, closely followed by
Finland,
Norway and
Sweden.[14]
Icelandic culture is founded upon the nation's Norse heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a
North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is closely related to
Faroese and some
West Norwegian dialects. The country's cultural heritage includes traditional
Icelandic cuisine, poetry, and the medieval
Icelanders' sagas. Among
NATO members, Iceland has the smallest population and is the only one with no standing army. Its lightly armed
Coast Guard is in charge of its defences.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland
I, Kaushik Biswas, hereby declare that all information regarding this video I collect from www.wikipedia.org and all
Images use to make this video is from
Google Search www.google.com . I use
Google Advanced
Search to collect those images, usage rights : "free to use, share or modify, even commercially" section.
Background Sound of this video I collect from Youtube
Audio Library which are free to use.
Thank you.
- published: 19 Nov 2013
- views: 1545