| From: | Robert Svard <robertsvard@*****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | NERPS Northern Europe |
| Date: | Sun, 2 Aug 1998 12:58:12 -0700 |
don't mind me posting this rather long piece...
I've been following NERPS for about 9 months, especially posts about
Siberia, Scandinavia and Iceland. It kind of reminded me about my own,
personal long-standing project to document Scandinavia in 2050. I
started on that one when the 1st ed. came out years ago. Last week, I
started updating my text to fit with the Siberia (a little bit at
least...), and up to 2060 (though I'm still waiting for SR 3rd ed. for
that one...).
I remembered some older posts about Iceland, Greenland and
Scandinavia, some of which are posted at the end of this posting, for
easy reference...
Anyways, let's get to the point. Has anyone been writing about
Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia or the Baltic region? My own, older
writings differ a little bit from the versions I've found in official
SR books and NERPS postings. For starters, the Scandinavian federation
includes Denmark, but excludes the northernmost parts, which,
including the Kola peninsula, now belongs to an independent state run
by the Same-Council, belonging to the local indigenous people of the
north.
Iceland (I*ve included a present up to date facts at a glance), I've
had evacuated in 2011, following a series of natural disasters, later
to be claimed by returning Icelanders and Greenlanders locked in a
federation with the NAN of old Northern Canada. The whole island has
awakened much lika Australia, and the interior is now an Awakened
wild-land.
The Skagerak region, including Copenhagen and Gothenburg, broke free
from the Scandinavian federation in 2019, following a nuclear meltdown
in southern Sweden. It is now a commercial free-zone, dedicated to
trading.
Now, what I'm wondering is, has anyone else been thinking about these
regions, or has there actually been things written in official books
that I've missed? Does this fit in with present NERPS-worldview,
and/or does it sound interesting?
What do you guys think? Let's have some sort of discussion on this, ok?
//Robert (P.s. Thanxs to David Mezerette for inspiration regarding
Iceland...)
===========================================================
LAND
Iceland is an island of 103,000km2 (39,756 square miles), with an
average height of 500m above sea level. Its highest peak,
Hvannadalshnúkur, rises to 2,119m, and over 11% of the country is
covered by glaciers, including Vatnajökull, the largest in Europe.
Geography in figures:
Geographic size 103.0 (Thousands of square kilometres)
There of:
Altitude 0-200 metres 24.7
Altitude 200-400 metres 18.4
Altitude above 400 metres 59.9
Glaciers 12.0
Lava fields 11.0
Lakes 3.0
Cultivated area 1.1
Cultivable area 20.0
The seabed out to 200 metre depth 111.0
The seabed out to 400 metre depth 183.0
The fishing zone (200 miles) 758.0
Shortest distance to:
Greenland 287 kilometres
Faeroe Islands 420 kilometres
Jan Mayen 550 kilometres
Scotland 798 kilometres
Norway 970 kilometres
CLIMATE
Considering the northerly location of Iceland, its climate is much
milder than might be expected, especially in winter. The mean
temperature for Reykjavík is 5°C (41°F), averaging -0.4°C (31.4°F)
in
January and 11.2°C (52.2°F) in July.
The weather in Iceland is on the whole changeable and coastal areas
tend to be windy.
ENERGY
Situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is a hot spot of volcanic
and geothermal activity. Thirty post-glacial volcanoes have erupted in
the past two centuries, and natural hot water supplies much of the
population with cheap, pollution-free heating. Rivers, too, are
harnessed to provide inexpensive hydroelectric power. The electrical
current is 220 volts, 50 Hz.
Hydro electric power:
Technically exploitable 64,000 GWh/year
Economically exploitable 45,000 GWh/year
Exploited 1994 4,950 GWh/year
HISTORY
In 930, the Icelandic settlers founded one of the world's first
republican governments; the Old Commonwealth Age, described in the
classic Icelandic Sagas, lasted until 1262, when Iceland lost its
independence. In 1918 it regained its independence and in 1944 the
present republic was founded. The country is governed by the Althing
(parliament), whose members are elected every four years. Four-yearly
elections are also held for the presidency;
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was elected in June 1996 to success
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. The head of state plays no part in day-to-day
politics.
Membership in international organizations
United Nations (1946)
The Nordic Council (1952)
IMF (1945)
The World Bank (1945)
IFC (1956)
IDA (1961)
GATT (1964)
OECD (1949)
EFTA (1970)
Council of Europe (1950)
NATO (1949)
ECONOMY
The economy is heavily dependent upon fisheries, which are the
nation's major resource, and almost 60% of all exports are made up of
seafood products. Yet only a small proportion of the workforce is
active in this sector (5% in fishing, 6.2% in fish processing), and
over 50% of the workforce is employed in services, public and other.
Occupational distribution (1994)
Agriculture 4.6%
Fisheries and fish processing 11.2%
Manufacturing 11.1%
Construction and Energy 9.5%
Commerce 14.6%
Communications 6.7%
Services and other 42.4%
The Icelandic currency is the króna.
PEOPLE
Of a population numbering just over a quarter of a million, half live
in the capital, Reykjavík, and its neighbouring towns in the
southwest. Keflavík International Airport is located about 50 km from
the capital. The highland interior is uninhabited (and uninhabitable),
and most centres of population are situated on the coast.
Population figures
170 50,358
1801 47,240
1901 78,470
1920 94,690
1940 121,474
1960 177,292
1970 204,578
1980 228,187
1990 267,806
1996 269,735
HEALTH
Life expectancy, at 80.8 years for women and 76.3 for men, is one of
the highest in the world, and a comprehensive state health-care system
aims to keep it that way.
LANGUAGE
Iceland was settled by Nordic people in the 9th century - tradition
says that the first permanent settler was Ingólfur Arnarson, a
Norwegian Viking who made his home where Reykjavík now stands. The
Icelanders still speak the language of the Vikings, although modern
Icelandic has undergone changes of pronunciation and, of course, of
vocabulary! Iceland is alone in upholding another Norse tradition,
i.e. the custom of using patronymics rather than surnames; an
Icelander's Christian name is followed by his or her father's name and
the suffix -son or -dóttir, e.g. Gudrún Pétursdóttir
(Gudrún, daughter
of Pétur). Members of a family can therefore have many different
"surnames," which sometimes causes confusion to foreigners!
CHURCH
The National Church of Iceland, to which 97% of the population belong,
is Evangelical Lutheran. In addition to the many Lutheran churches in
Reykjavík, there is a Roman Catholic Cathedral at Landakot, with
regular Sunday Mass.
TIME
In spite of its mid-Atlantic location, Iceland is on Greenwich Mean
Time all year round.
===========================================================
> Iceland
> Perhaps no other nation has changed as little as Iceland
> has.
>
> (>) You want to talk about boring, go watch the trid for a >
little while. Me,
> I want to do that stuff in real life, and Iceland
> appears to have a thriving
> underworld with magic coming back. All of the Mafia
> over here needs magic of
> one type or another, and they're hiring like crazy to >
protect the high men on
> the totem pole.
> (>) Cube
>
> (>) Mafia? In Iceland? I suppose it's possible, but why? >
There's never been
> much in the way of crime, and therefore profit, in > Iceland.
> (>) Naysayer
> Scandinavian Federation
> When the European Community (the EC) shattered with the
> Euro-Wars, the nations
> of Sweden, Finland and Norway decided to remain united and > so
formed the
> Scandinavian Federation. Each nation is still
> independent, but the three
> neighbors have combined their defense systems, some
> ambassadorial positions
> and they all have compatible Gridlink, Matrix, monetary
> and other important
> systems.
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