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Iceland

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Iceland, Icel. Ísland, officially Republic of Iceland, republic (2015 est. pop. 330,000), 39,698 sq mi (102,819 sq km), the westernmost state of Europe, occupying an island in the Atlantic Oce...

Iceland moss

(Encyclopedia)Iceland moss: see lichen.

Iceland spar

(Encyclopedia)Iceland spar, colorless variety of crystallized calcite, characterized by its properties of transparency and double refraction. It is used chiefly in the manufacture of Nicol prisms, which are essenti...

Reykjavík

(Encyclopedia)Reykjavík rāˈkyävēk, rāˈkävēk [key], city (1993 pop. 101,824), capital of Iceland, SW Iceland, on the Faxaflói. It is the center of the cod-fishing industry and the chief commercial and indu...

Althing

(Encyclopedia)Althing älˈthĭng [key] [Icel.,=general diet], parliament of Iceland. This assembly, the oldest in Europe, was convened at Thingvellir, SW Iceland, in 930. It was dissolved in 1800, was revived as a...

Eldjárn, Kristján

(Encyclopedia)Eldjárn, Kristján krĭstyounˈ ĕldyournˈ [key], 1916–82, Icelandic statesman and archaeologist. Educated at the universities of Copenhagen and Iceland, he was an assistant at the National Museum...

Eric the Red

(Encyclopedia)Eric the Red, fl. 10th cent., Norse chieftain, discoverer and colonizer of Greenland according to the sagas. He left (c.950) Norway with his exiled father and settled in Iceland. A feud resulting in m...

Dettifoss

(Encyclopedia)Dettifoss dĕˈtĭfôs [key], waterfall, in the Jökulsá á Fjöllum River, NE Iceland. Iceland's most impressive fall, it drops 144 ft (44 m) into a long canyon. ...

Siglufjörður

(Encyclopedia)Siglufjörður sĭkˈləfyörˌᵺər [key], town (1993 pop. 1,781), N Iceland, on the Greenland Sea. It is known as the capital of Iceland's herring industry. ...

Björnsson, Sveinn

(Encyclopedia)Björnsson, Sveinn svān byörnˈsôn [key], 1881–1952, Icelandic diplomat and political leader, first president of Iceland (1944–52). A distinguished lawyer, he was elected to the Althing (Icelan...