Iceland is a small island situated in the North Atlantic Sea and is recorded as the westernmost country of European continent. It lies 800 kilometers far from Scotland in northwest direction and 970 kilometers from Norway in west direction. The northern coast of Iceland is touching Arctic Circle just a bit. The position of Iceland makes it accessible by air and waterways only. Keflavík airport, Iceland’s international airport is connected with twenty big cities of Europe and America and delivers services of about 115 international flights in a week.
There are two words that can be joined with Iceland without any questions or doubts. They are refreshing and unconventional. The nature of Iceland is unscathed and becomes even more interesting and magical with the presence of spouting geysers, active volcanoes, plummeting waterfalls, huge mountains, vast lava grounds and some very beautiful lakes full of superstitious stories. The fjords, the glaciers and the highland plains provide the tourists’ with some spectacular and supernatural sights they will not get to see elsewhere in this world with the sense of complete silence and extreme nature. In case of man made beauties, the nightlife of capital city of Reykjavik is considered legendary and is one of the best in the world. It is supported by number of social and cultural activities that takes place there almost 24/7. The infinitesimal size of Reykjavik adds to the advantage as the entire city can be seen only by walking on foot.
For those who are in search of some high flying action, Iceland again stands ahead of all and offers huge natural spaces to enjoy most of the outdoor activities such as snowmobiling, horse riding, caves exploration, hiking, swimming, skiing, river rafting, kayaking and not to forget driving on mountains on an enhanced four wheel drive. Iceland also presents great differences in flora and fauna at every mile and hence, it is a numero uno loved spot for ornithologists. One thing which cannot go unnoticed while discussing about Iceland is the fact that it provides world’s best whale watching spots and destinations.
This country attracts tourists all around the year. People are drawn here naturally because of its diversification in landscape and also because of its vital energy and shades of lights and seasons that gives new scenes on every visit. Iceland is considered the world’s youngest country from geological point of view and is continuously growing in size. A volcanic explosion in 1963 on the southern shore of Iceland and it was named Surtsey. The latest explosion in Vatnajokull glacier occurred in 2004.
As told earlier that one can find every natural activity here next in the list is geothermal heating. It is one of the many subterranean activities occurring in Iceland. The flawless supply of geothermal heat is used very wisely and extensively for thermal spas, keeping house warmer during chilly winters. Iceland is second biggest user of geothermal energy in the world and it is marginally behind China.
Though the name appears very cool to the world but slowly and steadily, it has proved that, Iceland is not shy of showing what it has and what it is capable of having.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
Friday, August 31, 2007
Business growth and development in Iceland
Iceland can more be called a volcanic island rather than a country and it lies in the northern direction in Atlantic ocean, eastern direction of Greenland and just south of the arctic circle. Its distance from New York is about 4200 kilometers [2600 miles] and 830 kilometers [520 miles] from Scotland. About 79 percent of total land in Iceland is covered by glaciers, lakes, mountainous lave deserts and other wastelands. Despite of all these unsettling facts standard of living in Iceland is one among the highest of the world. For many decades, the economy of Iceland totally depended on fishing and other jobs related to it. It is still the major proportion of the exports of Iceland; it is around only 10 percent of gross domestic product. The economy of Iceland is growing all because of growth of sectors like I.T sector, tourism and banking and finance.
As told earlier, Fishing products are the major exported items of Iceland. Other important exported things include aluminum, ferrosilicon alloys, equipments and electronic items for fishing and the process of fishing and pharmaceuticals. Services and areas related to information technology and life sciences are the fastest growing sectors of Icelandic economy. Major part of things exported from Iceland goes to EU [European Union] and EFTA [European Free Trade Association]. These two European associations are followed by America and Japan. Note, that till now, America is the largest foreign investor in Iceland and is also the biggest supplier of services like financial and franchise services, movies/ TV programs, music, tourism etc. The agricultural sector of Iceland is very subsidized and kept very personal.
Iceland has very less mineral power resources. The huge availability of hydro-electric and geothermal electricity allows more than 90 percent of population to get electricity and heating to get some relieve in cold and chilly weather of Iceland. The Karahnjukar hydroelectric power station is the biggest power station in Iceland supplying more than 690 megawatts. The other power stations are station at Burfell [capacity of 270 megawatts], Hrauneyjarfoss [capacity of 210 megawatts], Sigalda and Blanda [150 megawatts]. They are also in search of supplying electricity to mainland Europe through marine cable. Similarly, aluminum industry is also on the rise in Iceland. Nordural aluminum plant is the largest aluminum plant which is owned by Century Aluminum Company of California. This plant gives employment to more than 450 people and its production has reached to 220000 tons per year.
Iceland does not have railway tracks. The process of constructing roads formally began in 1900 A.D and got speeded up in past ten years or so. The total length of roads in Iceland is 13000 kilometers [8125 miles] and paved roads are 4330 kilometers [2706 miles]. These roads connect most of the populated centers which are around coastal areas. Regular flights and ships and ferries connect all the main cities with the capital Reykjavik.
The national airline of Iceland, Icelandair connects this country to all major European cities and also to North America. This company is also one of the country biggest employers. Iceland became the member of EFTA [European Free Trade Association] in 1970 and signed an agreement with European Union in 1973 which stated that Iceland is also a member of free trade in European community.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
As told earlier, Fishing products are the major exported items of Iceland. Other important exported things include aluminum, ferrosilicon alloys, equipments and electronic items for fishing and the process of fishing and pharmaceuticals. Services and areas related to information technology and life sciences are the fastest growing sectors of Icelandic economy. Major part of things exported from Iceland goes to EU [European Union] and EFTA [European Free Trade Association]. These two European associations are followed by America and Japan. Note, that till now, America is the largest foreign investor in Iceland and is also the biggest supplier of services like financial and franchise services, movies/ TV programs, music, tourism etc. The agricultural sector of Iceland is very subsidized and kept very personal.
Iceland has very less mineral power resources. The huge availability of hydro-electric and geothermal electricity allows more than 90 percent of population to get electricity and heating to get some relieve in cold and chilly weather of Iceland. The Karahnjukar hydroelectric power station is the biggest power station in Iceland supplying more than 690 megawatts. The other power stations are station at Burfell [capacity of 270 megawatts], Hrauneyjarfoss [capacity of 210 megawatts], Sigalda and Blanda [150 megawatts]. They are also in search of supplying electricity to mainland Europe through marine cable. Similarly, aluminum industry is also on the rise in Iceland. Nordural aluminum plant is the largest aluminum plant which is owned by Century Aluminum Company of California. This plant gives employment to more than 450 people and its production has reached to 220000 tons per year.
Iceland does not have railway tracks. The process of constructing roads formally began in 1900 A.D and got speeded up in past ten years or so. The total length of roads in Iceland is 13000 kilometers [8125 miles] and paved roads are 4330 kilometers [2706 miles]. These roads connect most of the populated centers which are around coastal areas. Regular flights and ships and ferries connect all the main cities with the capital Reykjavik.
The national airline of Iceland, Icelandair connects this country to all major European cities and also to North America. This company is also one of the country biggest employers. Iceland became the member of EFTA [European Free Trade Association] in 1970 and signed an agreement with European Union in 1973 which stated that Iceland is also a member of free trade in European community.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
Icelandic – a language with a strong heritage
The popularity of Iceland’s tourism sector is growing day by day and this ever increasing popularity is encouraging more and more people to turn towards this small country in northern Europe to spend their summer and winter holidays. If you are planning to go in summer, which is the best time to visit there, you must take care of necessary reservations of flights and accommodations in hotels. Also do not forget to book the tickets of cultural and art shows that take place there in summer season only. Through these shows one can get the closer view of Iceland and its language.
The most used language of Iceland is “the Icelandic” and it is one of the very famous Nordic languages group. This group is the sub-group of the Germanic languages. Normally, Germanic language is divided into two groups i.e. North Germanic or Nordic languages and West Germanic. Iceland was first inhabited in around 870 A.D and most of the first visitors were from Norway [west Norway], Sweden and Ireland. Some Celtics were also in the earliest arrivals to Iceland. The language that became the most popular in Iceland was that of the people of Norway. Some traces of Celtic language are also visible in Icelandic language. The only words borrowed from Celtic language are some personal names and some names of places. Till 14th century Icelandic and Norwegian language was almost same. It was after 14th century that they became totally different from each other. This change occurred due to significant changes in the language of Norway. Icelandic language didn’t change and this was due to rich Icelandic literature that was written in read in the same language in 12th and 13th centuries. Now it is said that not even a single word has changed in Icelandic language that’s why the texts written in twelfth century can be read by a ten year boy even now. Another quality of Icelandic language is its uniformity i.e. the absence of dialects. But, Icelandic language has seen a huge change in its phonetics.
Because of its closeness to North America Icelandic is quite popular there. There are many in North America that speaks Icelandic language. These communities came into existence because there was huge immigration of people between Iceland, Canada and America right from the final 25 years of nineteenth century and the initial years of twentieth century. The first immigration is said to have started as early as 1855 but it started on huge amount only after 1870. It is said that first small colony of Icelanders was set around Lake Michigan in Washington in 1870. In 1875, Icelanders reached Canada and formed their first colony there on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg “also called new Iceland”. Many of same colonies were formed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Till now also hundreds and thousands of people there can still read, write and speak Icelandic language.
Since nineteenth century, language purism has been the national policy of the government of Iceland. According to this policy, they have decided that instead of using foreign words for new things they will coin the new words [neologism] or will revive the old words and use them after giving then new meanings. The Icelandic committee for language is responsible to guide government and public in general regarding the matters of language based on scholarly basis.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
The most used language of Iceland is “the Icelandic” and it is one of the very famous Nordic languages group. This group is the sub-group of the Germanic languages. Normally, Germanic language is divided into two groups i.e. North Germanic or Nordic languages and West Germanic. Iceland was first inhabited in around 870 A.D and most of the first visitors were from Norway [west Norway], Sweden and Ireland. Some Celtics were also in the earliest arrivals to Iceland. The language that became the most popular in Iceland was that of the people of Norway. Some traces of Celtic language are also visible in Icelandic language. The only words borrowed from Celtic language are some personal names and some names of places. Till 14th century Icelandic and Norwegian language was almost same. It was after 14th century that they became totally different from each other. This change occurred due to significant changes in the language of Norway. Icelandic language didn’t change and this was due to rich Icelandic literature that was written in read in the same language in 12th and 13th centuries. Now it is said that not even a single word has changed in Icelandic language that’s why the texts written in twelfth century can be read by a ten year boy even now. Another quality of Icelandic language is its uniformity i.e. the absence of dialects. But, Icelandic language has seen a huge change in its phonetics.
Because of its closeness to North America Icelandic is quite popular there. There are many in North America that speaks Icelandic language. These communities came into existence because there was huge immigration of people between Iceland, Canada and America right from the final 25 years of nineteenth century and the initial years of twentieth century. The first immigration is said to have started as early as 1855 but it started on huge amount only after 1870. It is said that first small colony of Icelanders was set around Lake Michigan in Washington in 1870. In 1875, Icelanders reached Canada and formed their first colony there on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg “also called new Iceland”. Many of same colonies were formed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Till now also hundreds and thousands of people there can still read, write and speak Icelandic language.
Since nineteenth century, language purism has been the national policy of the government of Iceland. According to this policy, they have decided that instead of using foreign words for new things they will coin the new words [neologism] or will revive the old words and use them after giving then new meanings. The Icelandic committee for language is responsible to guide government and public in general regarding the matters of language based on scholarly basis.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
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