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Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent plates. Volcanoes indicated in red.. In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American Plate and Eurasian Plate.
This is a timeline of Icelandic history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Iceland and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see history of Iceland .
The oldest known source which mentions the name "Iceland" is an eleventh-century rune carving from Gotland. There is a possible early mention of Iceland in the book De mensura orbis terrae by the Irish monk Dicuil, dating to 825. [9] Dicuil claimed to have met some monks who had lived on the island of Thule. They said that darkness reigned ...
Iceland's stock market, the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE), was established in 1985. [152] Iceland is ranked 27th in the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, lower than in prior years but still among the freest in the world. [153] As of 2016, it ranks 29th in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitive Index, one place lower than in 2015. [154]
Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and being over a hotspot.Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history.
The history of glaciation on Iceland began 3.3 million years ago, marking a dramatic change in environmental conditions. [17] Glaciers cover about 11% of Iceland; easily the largest of these is Vatnajökull. Icelandic glaciers have generally been retreating over the past 100 years.
Iceland was divided into four administrative regions called fjörðungar (farthings). Each of these was ruled by nine goðar. The Alþingi was made up of the four Quarter Courts (fjórðungsdómur). This judicial body of Iceland consisted of 36 judges, each appointed by one of the goðar. These courts tried individual cases and served as a ...
Iceland became more isolated during World War I and suffered a significant decline in living standards. [19] [20] The treasury became highly indebted, there was a shortage of food and fears over an imminent famine. [19] [20] [21] Iceland traded significantly with the United Kingdom during the War, as Iceland found itself within its sphere of ...