Iceland: Flag and Facts

About Iceland

Norwegian settlers, along with Scottish and Irish arrivals, reached Iceland in the late 9th and 10th centuries. By 930 they had set up the Althingi, an assembly still meeting today and counted as the oldest working legislature on Earth. Norway and later Denmark ruled the island for centuries, and the Danish Crown granted limited home rule in 1874 before full independence came on 17 June 1944.

The flag colors tell the landscape story: red for volcanic fire, white for snow and ice fields, blue for the sea. That fire has hurt the island too. Ash from the Askja eruption in 1875 wrecked farming and brought famine, and about 20% of Icelanders left over the next quarter-century, many heading to Canada and the US. Fishing drove growth in the late 20th century, and tourism and construction lead the economy now. Glaciers and icefields cap a high plateau, and the coast is cut deeply by fiords.

Did you know?

• Iceland's national symbol is the gyrfalcon, a large Arctic bird of prey.
• The top of Iceland is Hvannadalshnukur, a 2,110 m summit at the Vatnajokull Glacier.
• About 216,000 people live in the Reykjavik area, more than half of the country's population.