Iceland was settled by the Norwegians and Celtics (Ireland) between 800-900 AD, and prior to it’s complete independence in 1944, it had limited rule from Denmark. Here you will find Europe’s most western country (located just off the south eastern part of Greenland), as well as the World’s most northern capital, Reykjavik.
Iceland has a population of just under 300,000 (est. 2004), with over half of that total calling Reykjavik their home. Half of the entire population in one city? Don’t think it’s a crowded city. I’ve witnessed more people on a single NYC block on off hours then I believe we came in contact with the entire week we were there! Just to put things into perspective, Iceland is about the size of Kentucky. Kentucky’s population in 2000 was 4 million…
Most of Iceland’s interior is an arctic desert, and where there’s no icefields, glaciers or volcanos, there are fields of jagged rough terain with cravaces that are relics of lava flows. This leaves people to settle mainly on the coasts, and is probably why their main industry is fishing, although (Aluminum) smelting is also up there as well – their abundance of geothermal power means they can do that activity cheaper then most places, and they receive plenty of business from Europe and Africa.
So why is Iceland so vacant? Some of these pictures will tell that story.
*Please Note: All images are from scanned negatives and cannot be processed online. Please email me at [email protected] for ordering. Lighthouses can be ordered online through the Lighthouse gallery.
