Please also see the webpage Study in Iceland Iceland is Europe's
westernmost country, the second largest island in the North-
Atlantic Ocean, a little over three-hours flight from London,
Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Iceland is the
most sparsely populated country in Europe, with an average of
about three inhabitants per square kilometer. Almost four-fifths
of the country is uninhabited, the population being limited to a
narrow coastal belt, valleys, and the lowland plains in the
South and Southwest. The first permanent settlers in Iceland
were Norsemen from Scandinavia, arriving in the late 9th
century, and Celts from the British Isles. The language of
Iceland was Old Norse from the outset, but there are traces of
Celtic influence in some of the Eddaic poems, in person and
place names, and even in the appearance of present-day
Icelanders. Literacy has been universal in Iceland since the end
of the eighteenth century. School attendance was made obligatory
for all children aged ten through 1