In April 1995, the coalition headed by the Independence Party was reconfirmed as the ruling majority, while a representative of the Popular Alliance Party, Ólafur Grímsson, was elected president of the republic in 1996, and in the 1999 general elections he had the same success. In the 1999 legislative elections, David Oddsson, of the Independence Party, was confirmed, who set up a coalition government with the centrists of the Progressive Party, managing to guarantee the country a good economic recovery. In the legislative elections of May 2003, Oddsson was reconfirmed as prime minister for the fourth time. The latter left that office in 2004 in favor of Halldór Ásgrímsson, of the Progressive Party; also in the same year, President Grímsson was reconfirmed. In June 2006, Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson resigned and was replaced by Geir H. Haarde, former foreign minister. In May 2007 the legislative elections were held, won for a seat by the center-right. Geir H. Haarde was subsequently reconfirmed as prime minister. During the financial market crisis of October 2008, the premier had to launch a bailout plan for the major banks in the country, severely hit by the global economic situation, but in January 2009 he resigned, after a series of protests in the capital. According to intershippingrates, the government was immediately entrusted to Johanna Sigurdardottir at the head of a center-left coalition, who then won the early elections in April 2009. In February 2010, negotiations for the country’s accession to the EU were opened.
In July 2012, outgoing President Grímsson won the presidential elections with 52.8% of the vote, while the Independence Party returned to power in the April elections of the following year. Penalized for its austerity policy, the center-left ruling coalition was heavily defeated in the 2013 elections by conservative parties. the early elections of April 2009. In February 2010 negotiations were opened for the country’s accession to the EU. In July 2012, outgoing President Grímsson won the presidential elections with 52.8% of the vote, while the Independence Party returned to power in the April elections of the following year. Penalized for its austerity policy, the center-left ruling coalition was heavily defeated in the 2013 elections by conservative parties. the early elections of April 2009. In February 2010 negotiations were opened for the country’s accession to the EU. In July 2012, outgoing President Grímsson won the presidential elections with 52.8% of the vote, while the Independence Party returned to power in the April elections of the following year. Penalized for its austerity policy, the center-left ruling coalition was heavily defeated in the 2013 elections by conservative parties.
Geography
Iceland is a relatively young land and subject to periodic changes due to volcanic and seismic activity. It is also a predominantly mountainous land covered with glaciers, the largest in Europe: it is no coincidence that its name means “land of ice”. Volcanism, glaciers and geysers therefore characterize the natural landscapes of this island which, despite being just 300 km from the coasts of Greenland and 900 km from the Scottish ones, in terms of culture, language, population, presents itself as a state with distinctly European features. These traits, specifically Nordic, are a consequence of its first colonizers who came from Scandinavia and that until the beginning of the last century they maintained control over Iceland. The geographical position of a bridge between Europe and North America and its peculiar economy, based almost exclusively on fish resources, make it a country only partially integrated with the European political-economic system and explain why Iceland did not join the EU.
Icelandic language
Icelandic language. Together with Faroese and the Western Norwegian dialects, Icelandic forms the group of Western Nordic languages (Old Norse language); their origins go back to the time of the settlement of Iceland (around 870–930); it was initially a settlement dialect, with settlers from western Norway dominating. In contrast to Norwegian, which has changed a lot since the 14th century, the Icelandic language has remained essentially the same. The changes affect almost only the pronunciation and small parts of the sound system (e.g. insertion of a scion vowel between stem and ending, Stretching of old short and diphthonging of old long vowels); the changes are only partially reflected in the spelling. The Icelandic language is the only Germanic language that has retained its medieval structure. Especially in the 18th century she was exposed to foreign, especially Danish influences, but the vocabulary was repeatedly cleared of foreign overlays. Even today, the Icelandic language is remarkably poor in foreign words. Many terms in modern life, science and technology are expressed using Icelandic words. The script knows the following characters that differ from German: ð, Ð, þ, Þ (voiced or unvoiced English th); æ Æ (like German ai).
