Storia Islandese / Iceland, History Of

Rarely rumors and news from Iceland reach the rest of Europe. Except for pharmaceutical industries, which operates in genetic research, and for enviromentalists irritated by the icelandic attitude towards the whale affairs, for many of us Iceland is an unknown land. In a geographical position so defilated that often the definitions of Europe forget to include (1), Iceland has always remained at the margins of european integration, and has not developed yet a solid tourist industry.

From a cultural point of view, Icelanders consider themselves scandinavians, more that europeans: they have many historical and linguistic ties with other nordic countries, sharing with them (with the exception of Finland) the origin of the language, the traditions and most of their history. With these countries they have developed important political platforms like the “Nordic Council”, or the passport free zone of circulation. On the other hand, with the rest of Europe, since recent days, they have relationships of little importance, with the significant exception of the Great Britain.

Iceland is a unique country in Europe, for many reasons: it has quite a large country, approx 100.000 kmq or one third of Italy, but the population is as little as  300.000 people, with a density which has no similars in the rest of the continent; half of the population lives in the capital area, so large parts of the country are deserts (2). With those numbers, statistics often fail in giving a point of vies of the country, and it is difficult to choose the right data to trace an exaustive picture of the society. However, we can surely say that Iceland is a country of high schooling, high standards of living, but able to set up a solid economy only after the WWII; like Italy, one could say that Iceland has been a cold war miracle.
The geography and landscapes of Iceland are fascinating. Large barren areas, covered of vulcanic lava, glaciers, arctic vegetation, and hot water springs almost anywhere. The Gulf Stream mitigates the climate, and, according to data, winters in New York or Zurich is much colder than in Reykjavik (4). Iceland has no forrests, and half of the territory is defined “wastland”; for century icelanders could not practise an efficient agricultur because of the lack of minimal conditions; today this activity is possible in modern greenhouses, operated with geothermal and hydroelectric energy.

From an historical point of view, what makes Iceland special in Europe is the absolute lack of any military tradition: modern icelanders have never partecipated in any conflict, and they have no army. Obviously, there is a reason for all of that; a little resume of the key passages of Icelandic history will be usefull.

Note al testo
 
 
1) In effetti l’Islanda si trova proprio a cavallo della dorsale atlantica (come testimoniato dall’intensa attività geotermica), quindi almeno tecnicamente tutta la parte occidentale del paese insiste sul continente americano.
 
2) Fonte per le statistiche, Iceland in Figures, 2000, Ministero affari e commercio estero.
 
3) Ad esempio sono uno dei paesi con il più alto numero di premi Nobel rispetto alla popolazione (scalzati credo solo da St. Lucia per il Nobel a Derel Walcott), anche avendone vinto solo uno per la letteratura con Halldor Laxnes (1955), oppure il paese in cui si leggono più giornali anche se solo una testata raggiunge le 25.000 copie vendute.
 
4) Le medie invernali per Reykjavik si aggirano intorno agli zero gradi. Fonte: Iceland in figure. cit.