Iceland, part of Scandinavia, is an island nation in Northern Europe. It is considered among the most developed and most egalitarian countries in the world, and is the fourth most productive nation per capita.

On May 10, 2009, Iceland's newly-elected Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said her government intends to start talks and seek a vote from the people on whether they should join the European Union, a route many Icelanders see as a way out of their current financial crisis.BBC News: Iceland's PM to seek vote on EU (May 10, 2009)

Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned and disbanded his government on January 25, 2009. Although the official reason was given as illness, there was a general consensus in the media that the resignation was actually due to concern over Haarde's handling of Iceland's economic crisis.The Independent: Iceland PM is First Global Political Casualty of the Crunch (January 25, 2009) On January 28, 2009, it was reported that the Social Democratic Alliance Party was planning on appointing Johanna Sigurdardottir as the interim prime minister until the May 2009 general elections.Marie Claire: World Set for First Openly Gay Prime Minister (January 28, 2009)

Siguradardottir was elected Prime Minister by a clear majority on April 26, 2009.Business Week: Iceland Turns Left and Edges Toward EU (April 27, 2009)

Iceland's first inhabitants may have been Irish monks who traveled to the small island in the 700s, but it was not permanently settled until Ingolfur Arnarson settled in Reykjavik in 874. The Icelandic Commonwealth was formed in the year 930, and officially adopted Christianity as its national religion in 1000.

For much of the Middle Ages, control over Iceland was in the hands of the united governments of Norway and Denmark. In the 1400s, the Black Plague wiped out about half the population. Norway and Denmark split after the Napoleonic Wars, and on December 1, 1918, Denmark granted Iceland its independence, though it remained under the dominion of the Danish king until World War II.

• Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden

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  Creative Commons image by Max Naylor

• WorldAtlas: Iceland Map and Information

• Iceland.is: Iceland Geography

• National Geographic: Iceland Videos and Map

• BBC Weather: Iceland

• Icelandic-Goods: Icelandic Products

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