Iceland

Iceland is a very green and beautiful island. Geologically the island is relatively new it has formed from volcanic activity between the Eurasian and North American Plate. The Island is still very volcanically and geologically active, it is isolated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean it was uninhabited until 874.

Politics
It was a member of the Coalition of the Willing so obviously it is a country with no army, it pulled out in winter 2008. They only had one troop in Iraq. Its capital is Reykjavík. Iceland has only 320,000 inhabitants but those inhabitants enjoy a high standard of living and an egalitarian society. Like Norway and Switzerland Iceland does not belong to the European Union. Their president is Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson a social democrat.

Economics
For such a country with such a small population it owns (or did own) a remarkable amount of business around the world It is currently pwned because it did particularly badly in the ongoing economic crisis, its banks currently owe about six times the countries annual GDP! Things are currently so bad for Iceland someone tried to sell it on eBay. Traditionally the country relied heavily on fish, and despite moving heavily into other areas it is still very important for the island.

World heritage site
In 1963 there was an unusual and spectacular event in the seas near Iceland. In mid November the crew of a fishing boat noticed smoke rising from the sea. The captain thought another boat may be on fire and went to help. There was no boat. Instead there was a volcanic eruption below the sea. Volcanic smoke increased rapidly. Before the end of November a new volcanic island had formed above the surface of the sea and was growing rapidly in size. The new Island was called Surtsey. Geologists studied the volcano as it was erupting.

The Icelandic people could see this island gave a unique chance to find out how new life colonizes a volcanic island and Surtsey became a nature reserve before the eruptions had even finished. A handful of scientists land on Surtsey to study the island. Other people are kept away. Different types of plants have begun to grow on Surtsey recorded by the scientists. As birds started to nest on Surtsey the soil improved and more plant species could survive there. Seabirds have nested for decades on Surtsey. Seals regularly bask on the beaches and whales are found off the coast. Insects colonized Surtsey as well.

All this excites the scientists so much that in 2008 UNESCO declared Surtsey a World Heritage Site. An island that’s so barren is a World Heritage Site. Paradoxical isn’t it? 