7 ATLASES
History of Iceland in maps
Iceland as it appears in 7 interactive history atlases, from 790 to 2015: Iceland. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.
Free printable Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution study guide, sent by email ↓
What was Iceland before it was Iceland? The sections below follow this land through every era covered by the Maps of History atlases: who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed. Each line links to the dated map. Modern borders serve as an approximation, as each atlas says on the map itself.
Iceland · Norse and Aztecs
From the 870s, Norse farmers settled Iceland with Gaelic men and women they brought with them, many of them enslaved. The islanders established the Althing in 930 and maintained a society without a king for centuries. Grazing and cutting badly damaged the birch woods and soils, but fishing and trade helped the society survive colder centuries. Iceland also preserved the sagas that tell the story of the Norse Atlantic.
| Other peoples and states — the opening position | |
| Norse homelands & settlements |
NORSE AND AZTECS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iceland · Industrial Revolution
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iceland · Age of Revolutions
| Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iceland · WWI
Iceland · WW2
Iceland · Cold War
| NATO & core Western allies — the opening position |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iceland · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
Iceland’s women staged the most complete strike of the period on 24 October 1975: about 90 percent stopped work, and some 25,000 rallied in Reykjavík. In 1980 Icelanders elected Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, a divorced single mother, as the world’s first woman elected president. A women’s list entered parliament three years later, in 1983.
| Right won in law — the opening position | |
| Partial or unequal; treaty signed only; transition | |
| No reform yet / outside this story | |
| Right won in law |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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