Population & Culture Iceland

Population & Culture

Icelanders
More than half of Iceland’s 300,000 inhabitants live in or around the capital, Reykjavík, in the country’s Southwest region. Keflavík international airport is about 50 km west of the capital. The interior plateaus are deserted – simply put, they are uninhabitable – and most towns are located on the coast.

Language
The Norse were the first to settle in Iceland in the 9th century. Legend has it that the first permanent resident was Ingólfur Arnarson, who settled in current day Reykjavik. The Icelanders still speak Viking languages, though the modern language has gone through considerable changes in pronunciation and, it goes without saying, vocabulary! Iceland is the only country to have preserved the Norse tradition of patronymic naming instead of using family names: every person’s first name is followed by their father’s first name, followed by the “son” suffix (meaning ‘son of’), or “dóttir” (meaning ‘daughter of’). For example: Guðrún Petursdóttir is Guðrún, daughter of Peturs. Each member of a family therefore has a different ‘family name’, which often makes it difficult for foreigners to find their way!

Religion
The National Church of Iceland, which includes 90% of the population, is a branch of the Protestant Lutheran Church. Apart from this denomination, there is a catholic cathedral in Landakot, where a mass is held every Sunday.