ONE LAND · 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 — every chapter. Try chapters 1–2 of any 2 other atlases (3 with a free account). Opening a new atlas uses one of them. Membership opens all 21 — Join.
Free printable Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution study guide, sent by email ↓
What was Iceland before it was Iceland? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History atlases — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Iceland · Norse and Aztecs
Settled from the 870s by Norse farmers and the Gaelic men and women, many enslaved, whom they brought with them, Iceland built a society without a king, governed by the Althing from 930. Its birch woods and soils were badly degraded by grazing, yet it survived the colder centuries by fishing and trade, and preserved the sagas that tell the Norse Atlantic story.
| 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 staged the most complete women’s strike of the period: on 24 October 1975 about 90 per cent of its women stopped work, and some 25,000 rallied in Reykjavík. In 1980 Icelanders elected Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, a divorced single mother, the world’s first woman elected president, and a women’s list entered parliament 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 →
Related
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Join the Dispatch — a short welcome series, then a letter when a new atlas opens — and a printable atlas study guide of your choice is yours now, free.
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME