Iceland

Iceland was the last country in Europe to be physically born. It was the last to be settled by man, by Vikings in the ninth century at the start of a great era of navigation and exploration which would take the Icelanders as far as the shores of the New World. The settlers of Iceland brought with them the ancient Nordic language which has been preserved remarkably intact - and still very much alive - right up to present day. Population is about 300 thousand people. Iceland has the oldest living parliament in the world, the Althing, founded in 930 AD. Since 1944, Iceland has been a republic with a president elected for four years by plebiscite, a 63-member parliament, elected for four years from eight electoral districts.