Sustainability and Economic Development in Iceland

Iceland was not settled at the same time as Western Europe. It took until the late 8^th century for people to spread from Europe and settle the island. Throughout its early years, Iceland was under Norwegian rule, followed by Danish rule. The country only gained its independence on June 17^th, 1944. In this regard, Iceland is a relatively new independent republic (http://www.localhistories.org/iceland.html). Despite gaining their independence, Iceland’s main exports and economic activities have remained centered around the fishing industry. For the most part, Iceland’s economy did not change much due to its reliance on natural resources and the constraints of culture (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/61/266.html). Animal husbandry was a main means of support in conjunction with fishing. Currently fishing and fish products account for around 50% of foreign currency revenues (http://waterfire.fas.is/Iceland/). Because Iceland’s industry is so heavily focused around natural resources, no fortune 500 companies are located there. The land mass is also inconveniently located for quick trade global trade. All of these factors have helped place Iceland where they are today in terms of sustainability. Because they have to rely so heavily on imports for energy and other materials, it has helped them to become more reliant on renewable energy sources in order to keep more processes domestic. The geographic and natural resource constraints have helped to shape Iceland’s sustainability and way of life.