Iceland

=ICELAND= Caleb K. Amanda W. & Kara M. media type="youtube" key="HOBOjjp43bU" height="364" width="445"

=Physical Geography:= Iceland is a very beautiful country. It's located between Northern Europe and the Greenland Sea. The North Atlantic Ocean is below the country of Iceland. The total area of Iceland is 103,000 sq km., slightly smaller than Connecticut. The terrain is mostly plateaus as well as mountains, peaks, and ice fields. The coast is deeply indented by bays and fiords. Some natural resources in in Iceland are mainly these: Fish, hydro power, geothermal power, and diatomite. As well as natural resources there are natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. .07% of Iceland has arable land to farm and house on. There are also no permanent here. media type="custom" key="3927339" =People of Iceland:= The population of Iceland was estimated as 306,694 in July of 2009. The population growth rate is .741%, the birth rate is 13.43 births/1,000 people, and the death rate is 6.81 deaths/1,000 population. The population, of course, is broken down into two sexes. This shows you who is what of what age- //0-14 years:// 20.7% (male 32,268/female 31,308) //15-64 years:// 67.1% (male 104,158/female 101,584) //65 years and over:// 12.2% (male 16,952/female 20,424). The life expectancy of Iceland is 78.53 years for men, and 82.9 years for woman. Ethnic groups of Iceland include these: a homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts is 94% of the population, 6% is foreign population. The literacy rate is 99% for 15 year olds and older. Iceland does not have it's own military, but under the 1951 agreement, it's defense is provided by the U.S. manned Icelandic Defense Force (IDF). However, Iceland does have it's own police and coast guard systems.

=Economy:= Iceland's economy is basically capitalistic, with very low unemployment (about 3.4%), and very widely distributed income. The economy relies a lot on the fishing industries (70% income) and 12% on work force. Other income sources come from tourism, including whale watching and ecotourism. Iceland's economy remains pretty steady without its dependence on natural resources. 99% of their energy comes from hydro-power and geothermal-power. The labor force of Iceland includes: agriculture- 5.1%, fishing and fish processing- 11.8%, manufacturing- 12.9%, construction- 10.7%, and services- 59.5%. Iceland exports many products to Germany, the U.S., the Netherlands, and Spain. They export products such as these: Fish and fish products, animal products, aluminum, diatomite, and ferrosilicon. All these exports create $2.379 billion a year for Iceland's economy. They also import many products such as, machinery, petroleum products, foodstuffs, and textiles. Their main importing partners are Germany 11.8%, Denmark 8%, US 7.5%, UK 7.5%, Norway 7%, Sweden 6.5%, Netherlands 6.2%, and Italy 4.7%. Currently Iceland suffers from $3.073 billion of debt, because of a war, not a military war, but a financial war. The government is being told to sell off the countries natural resources to other countries, to try and help fix/improve the debt problem. The new banking class is seeking to upgrade it's power and wealth, although the economy is becoming bankrupt.

media type="custom" key="3933449" = = =Religion of Iceland:=

There is freedom of religion is in Iceland's Constitution. There is a state church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which about 83% of the population belongs to. Other denominations include: Evangelical Lutheran Free churches (4.7%), Roman Catholic Church (2,4%), Pentecostal and Charismatic Congregations (1.0%) and others (5.5%).

The conversion of Iceland to Christianity was a special event. A whole society abandoned its ancient beliefs and peacefully adopted the Christian faith. This happened at the opening session of Althing, the year 1000, when the nation faced difficult divisions. The Speaker, Thorgeir of Ljósavatn, said these words,"If the law torn asunder, so will the peace". He declared that all Icelanders should be baptized into Christianity. This decision is considered to be the most important ever taken at Althing since its establishment in 930 AD.
 * Millennium of the Conversion to Christianity in 2000**

The Congregation population is quite low and in the capital. This observation shows the most important characteristics of the religious situation in Iceland. On the one hand that the National Church has been slow in adapting to urban life in Iceland, and on the other hand modern Icelanders are deeply conscious of their history and national identity. =Popular Icelandic Foods/ Recipes:= Have you ever considered eating some //Moss Soup//? Well as wonderful as that sounds you might change your mind after knowing what the recipe is... 1-2 fist fulls of Iceland moss 1-3 tablespoons of brown sugar 2 liters of whole milk 50gr.of sugar and a pinch of salt...yummy!

Macaroni in Milk is also a famous dish in Iceland. It contains...

2 liters of whole milk 1/2 liter of water 1 1/2 tsp. of salt 60 grams of elbow macaroni 1 1/2 tablsp. of sugar and some cinnamon boil the macaroni then mix the liquid ingredients and sprinkle the cinnamon on top. [|Delicious Citations]

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