Iceland - Country history and economic development



874. Iceland is settled by Norsemen. Ingólfur Arnarson is said to be the first settler, arriving with his family in present-day Reykjavík.

930. The ruling chiefs of Iceland establish a republican constitution and an assembly, the Althingi, the oldest parliament in the world.

1000. Christianity adopted in Iceland; Greenland discovered and colonized by Icelanders.

1262. Iceland enters into a treaty establishing a union with the Norwegian monarchy.

1397. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark form the Kalmar Union. Iceland falls under the sovereignty of the Danish crown but retains constitutional status.

1800. Althingi abolished. Iceland fully under the Danish crown.

1843. Althingi reestablished as a consultative assembly.

1874. Denmark grants Iceland home rule. Icelandic constitution written (revised in 1903).

1918. An agreement between Iceland and Denmark, the Act of Union, recognizes Iceland as a fully sovereign state under the Danish crown.

1940. When the German army occupies Denmark at the start of World War II, British military forces arrive to defend Iceland.

1941. The British pass responsibility for Iceland's defense to the United States under a U.S.-Icelandic defense agreement.

1944. Iceland formally becomes an independent republic.

1949. Iceland becomes a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1968. Iceland joins the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

1970. Iceland joins the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

1972. Iceland enters a free trade agreement with the European Economic Community.

1980. Icelanders elect the world's first woman president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir; she goes on to serve 4 4-year terms.

1992. Iceland joins the Western European Union (WEU).

1994. Iceland becomes a member of the European Economic Area (EEA).

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