Languages and Geography - Seminari i Kursevi

Around the year 1500, hunting people occupied the entire northern third of NorthAmerica. They lived well from the animals with whom they shared these lands. Huntersof sea mammals had colonized the Arctic coasts of Canada and Greenland betweenfour and five thousand years before. Land-hunting people had lived throughout much ofthe northern interior for at least 12,000 years.Northern North America is part of a larger circumpolar ecological domain thatcontinues across the narrow Bering Strait into Siberia and northern Europe. The overallcircumpolar environment in the 1500’s was not very different from the environment ofthe present. This vast landmass had a continental climate and was dominated by coldarctic air throughout a long winter and spring season. Summer temperatures rangedfrom near freezing to the mid-20's Celsius, while winter temperatures were often as lowas 40 degrees below zero Celsius.Geographers divide the overall circumpolar domain into two zones, the Arctic andbelow it, the Subarctic. They refer to the landforms of these areas as tundra and taiga,respectively.Temperatures in the northern lands were below freezing for eight or nine months ofthe year. Subsurface soil in the Arctic's tundra remained permanently frozen. Evenwhen summer temperatures were above freezing and the top inches of earth becamesaturated with water, the soil below remained frozen into a permafrost, as hard as rock.When water flowed upon the surface of permanently frozen tundra, it made overlandtravel extremely difficult. Summer travel in the boggy lands, or muskeg country, of theSubarctic's taiga was also slow and arduous. Tracking animals was more difficult thanit was during the winter when the swampy ground was frozen solid and covered withsnow. In both tundra and taiga, hordes of mosquitoes and biting flies bred in thestanding pools of water. Clothing lost its thermal efficiency when it became damp.Northern people looked forward to the turn of the season to bring the easier travelingconditions associated with cold weather. In the Arctic, they could haul food andsupplies by dogsled while in the Subarctic, people could travel quickly and efficiently bysnowshoes and toboggan.

Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland, pronounced [ˈistlant] is a Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is linked culturally and politically with Europe and is the region's most sparsely populated country. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents. The official language of the country is Icelandic.

Located on a rift between tectonic plates, Iceland's geologic activity includes geysers and frequent volcanic eruptions. The interior consists of a volcanic plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a latitude just south of the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate.

According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, immigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls (i.e., slaves or serfs) of Gaelic origin.

Ísland er eyríki í Norður-Atlantshafi á milli Grænlands, Færeyja og Noregs. Eyjan situr á Atlantshafshryggnum þar sem er heitur reitur, mitt á milli heimsálfanna Norður-Ameríku og Evrópu, en landið telst til Evrópu og er eitt Norðurlandanna. Ísland er um 103.000 km² að stærð, næststærsta eyja Evrópu á eftir Bretlandi og sú átjánda stærsta í heimi. Á Íslandi búa um 384.000 manns (2024)[1] og það er því eitt af dreifbýlustu löndum jarðar. Reykjavík er höfuðborg landsins og stærsta þéttbýlið, þar sem yfir þriðjungur íbúa býr. Íslenska er opinbert tungumál á Íslandi.

Ísland situr á rekbelti á milli tveggja meginlandsfleka og þar er mikill jarðhiti og eldvirkni. Landslag einkennist af eldfjallasléttu þar sem eru fjöll og hraunbreiður, auk jökla, og margar jökulár renna til sjávar um láglendið við ströndina. Golfstraumurinn sér til þess að loftslag á Íslandi er mildara en víða annars staðar á sömu breiddargráðu, rétt sunnan við norðurheimskautsbaug, og þar er úthafsloftslag ríkjandi fremur en heimskautaloftslag.

Samkvæmt Landnámabók hófst landnám Íslands þegar Ingólfur Arnarson nam þar land árið 874, þó aðrir hefðu áður dvalið tímabundið á landinu. Á næstu áratugum flutti fjöldi fólks til Íslands á tímabili sem nefnt er landnámsöld, bæði frá Noregi og Bretlandseyjum. Ísland komst með Gamla sáttmála undir vald Noregskonungs árið 1262 og varð síðar hluti af Danaveldi til ársins 1918, þegar það fékk fullveldi í konungssambandi við Danmörku. Lýðveldi var stofnað árið 1944 og öll stjórnarfarsleg tengsl við Danmörku rofin. Íslenska löggjafarþingið, Alþingi, er eitt elsta starfandi þing heims, stofnað árið 930, þótt það hafi verið lagt niður um stutt skeið frá 1799 til 1845.