Iceland is a small island nation known for its active volcanism and large glaciers. The population of 325,000 mostly lives in Reykjavik, and speaks Icelandic though English is also widely understood. Iceland has a parliamentary government and was originally settled by Norwegians in the 9th century. A unique country, Iceland produces clean energy from geothermal resources and has one of the fastest internet speeds in the world, while also preserving its ancient Norse culture and language.

1. Iceland
by nathaniel loy and kevin lentz

2. Introduction
Iceland is a small island nation. iceland is unique for it’s location on an active
fault margin,and extremely active volcanism. it’s language is icelandic though
english is widely understood and spoken. the icelandic government is a
parliamentary constitutional republic, meaning their “parliament” has power
over even their elected head of state. the primary religion of iceland is
christianity but some in iceland have recently revived a neo-norse religious
group, even having built a temple for it recently. Iceland’s current population as
of june 2014 is 325,000. Iceland is known as the land of “fire and ice” as it
houses some of the world’s largest glacier and volcanos, and while the weather
is predominantly cold the have a large share of greenery across the island.

3. Iceland’s
land
iceland is country
with many
peninsulas
despite it’s small
size , along with a
number of
glaciers and very
active volcanos.
the island is also
the world's
youngest
landmass.

4. Important places
Vatnajökull glacier is the
largest ice cap on the island,
and in 2004 there was a
short but strong eruption
from one of the many
volcanos it covers. one such
volcano is Grímsvötn shown
here during it’s 2004
eruption

5. Reykjavik
the capital city of reykjavik in iceland holds a lion share of their population,
118,488 people as of 2010 just around ⅓ of the total country's population.

6. Population
Density
As show here most of the population
lives on inlets and coastlines with a
large distribution of the population
centered around the capital Reykjavik

7. Work in iceland
Due to it’s enterprise into clean energy iceland has become a major hotspot for
industrialization, beyond that it has been creating a large export trade in various
marine products, fish and seafood, which form the backbone of iceland’s
economy, with it being the 12th largest fishing country in the world, the natural
quality of fish from the sea around the very environmentally clean country
play’s in its favor as they can fetch good market value from the nature they’ve
cared for and cultivated. in the last few years the country has made a push to
bring about more technological industries focused on innovation and making
use of their abundant energy supplies.

8. History of Iceland
The Iceland that we know today had its beginnings in the late 9th century c.e. (about
870). Although there is evidence that Iceland was originally inhabited by Gaelic monks, the
Iceland we know today was established primarily by Norwegians who were escaping conflicts in
Scandinavia, as well as looking for new land to farm. Within a half a century of its establishment,
Iceland formed a parliamentary system known as the Althing. The Althing is one of the earliest
and oldest parliamentary systems to exist. The culture of Iceland was a combination of different
countries and regions, primarily from the Scandinavian Peninsula, and primarily Norway of
those countries.

9. history cont.
Iceland held its independence until the 13th century, when internal conflict had gradually
led Iceland to joining and becoming a part of Norway. Soon after, Norway formed an alliance
with Denmark and Sweden known as the Kalmar Union. The Kalmar Union lasted until the 16th
century. When it disbanded, Iceland fell into the hands of Denmark. Iceland remained under
Danish rule until World War II, when Iceland gained its sovereignty. Iceland since has held its
independence. Iceland's remote location has made it possible for Iceland to stand independently
in Europe. Iceland has remained separate from the European Union, and has avoided really any
political situations involving other countries. They have remained neutral in wars and disease
outbreaks. Iceland's location has helped preserve their culture and provide a shield from the rest
of the world.

10. Even more iceland history
The only thing Iceland shared with the rest of the world, was its economy. Iceland's
economy took an unfortunate turn in 2008, when the economy of the world had caught up to
Iceland. Iceland's economy harshly collapsed, harder than any other country that felt the effects
of the world's recession. In response, Iceland's citizens arrested their bankers and politicians and
had a paper revolution. Iceland reformed its governing system and appointed new officials to run
this new system. The new system for Iceland is working relatively well, but there is still a long
way to recover from the massive collapse that occurred in 2008.

11. Why iceland is an oddball
Iceland holds several features that make it unique and make it really stand apart from
other countries, especially European countries. From Iceland's culture to its technological
capabilities, Iceland really stands alone as a unique country.
One feature that makes Iceland very unique is that its geographic isolation has allowed
Iceland to keep a firm hold on its culture. Not only is Iceland out of the way and distant from
other countries, Iceland has strict policies in place for allowing people from outside countries to
move into Iceland. A part of Icelandic culture that has remained very excellently intact, is its
language. Iceland has remained one of the only countries to still speak the old Norse language.
Learning the old Norse language is a part of the requirements as well for citizenship in Iceland.
Iceland intentionally has made this a requirement, much like other requirements, to preserve
their culture in a modern world that is integrating with itself daily.

12. Clean energy for ice and fire
Another unique feature that Icelandic citizens have obtained, is their ability to produce
clean energy. The volcano that formed Iceland produced enough steam essentially to power the
entire country with excess. This has been a tremendous help in Iceland's economy, as well as
with their technological capabilities. One great example is the superior internet that Iceland has
been capable of producing. Iceland has one of the fastest, if not the fastest, internet in the world,
and is produced at a much lower cost than most countries.

13. Kevin’s side
The reason I picked Iceland for this
presentation, was because of how unique,
independent, and innovative Iceland is. From
examples of Iceland peacefully standing up to
its government to the way they efficiently
produce clean energy from a natural resource,
Iceland stands out as a particularly unique and
exceptional country.

14. Nathan’s side
I wanted to present on iceland
because of a longstanding interest in
iceland originally sparked when one
of it’s companies produced the
longstanding online game EVE
online, something on which i likely
spent far too much of my life on,
however this project gave me a
chance to indulge that curiosity and
learn about the geologically unique
area that iceland is

15. Conclusion
Overall one can say that iceland is a land of dichotomies , mostly frozen wastes
with high tech clean energy powered cities, huge ice sheets with volcano’s just
waiting below them. the youngest landmass with one of the world's oldest ruling
governments, dating all the way back to their time as the Althing , a very strong
culture with both modern thoughts and very ancient traditions being kept alive
in conjunction with each other.