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Cheap Hotels in Iceland
Hotels in Iceland
Immigrants from Scandinavia first discovered Iceland it is believed in the 9th or 10th century. The country is now becoming more popular with independent travellers who are looking for something more unusual than what European holidays tend to offer. With a small population of only 300,000 and a land area of 103,000km2 the country has enormous remote areas for you to explore. The Prime Minister Halldor Asgrimsson is pushing the beauty and naturalness of the island as a major tourist attraction.
Iceland is located in the North Atlantic just south of the Arctic Circle. The island is the world’s 18th largest island and is volcanic. The island has widespread geothermal activity with its being situated on a geological hot spot as well as sitting on the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The island itself is made up mostly of cooled basalt lava. The land in the centre of Iceland can be extremely harsh as well as beautiful and most islanders tend to live on the edge of the island. The capital Reykjavik and Keflavik are the two major populated areas. There are four national parks to visit on Iceland they are Jokulsargljufur national park, Skaftafell national park, Snaefellsnes national park and Pingvellir national park. There are several large lakes worth visiting such as Porisvatn this lake is 83km2 and also Pingvallavatn Lake measuring almost the same.
The deepest lake on the island is Oskjuvatn, and is 200 metres deep. Although in recent years Iceland has found tourism a big help, the country actually is already one of the ten richest in the world based on GDP per capita. The country has a very strong fishing industry that employs 8% of the country’s work force.
This however does put a lot of importance on world fish prices and makes the country somewhat vulnerable in today’s changing world. Iceland does have though an abundance of power in the form of hydroelectric and geo thermal power. A growing market is also the technology industry and energy.
Iceland Demographics
The original population was from Nordic and Celtic origins this has been proven by scientific and literal records. The population today is described by some as a “homogenous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts.” There are extensive medical and genealogical records showing the population dating back to the age of settlement.
The population is believed to have been around 40,00 to 60,00 in the country’s first settlement period. Then late in the 19th century due to cold winters and a plague sweeping the island the numbers fell rapidly.
The first census that was carried out on Iceland was in 1703 and showed the population to be 50,358. In the last years of the 19th century and early 20th century living conditions improved hugely this lead to a steady rise and in 2004 a record shows 290,00.
Religion in Iceland
The majority of Icelanders belong to the Church of Iceland that is a Lutheran body of worship.
Almost 85.5% of the population belong to the Church of Iceland, the remaining group is made from 3.6% of the Free Lutheran Church, Catholic’s number just 2.% and the final 2.4% of the population are not members of any religious group.
Iceland Embassy
For your convenience we have listed Icelandic embassys below. Embassys can provide you with information regarding visas and other important travel information.
