Icelandic
Icelandic
is the national language of the people of Iceland. Icelandic is a member of
the North Germanic (Scandinavian) branch of the Germanic languages, a subfamily
of the Indo-European languages. It is derived from Old Norse, the language of
the Vikings who came to Iceland from Norway in the 9th century AD.
From 1380 to 1918 Iceland was ruled by Denmark; despite this, Icelandic remained
virtually uninfluenced, its purity of form assured by geographic isolation and a
strong literary tradition.
It is apoken by 230,000
in Iceland with a few thousand speakers in Canada and the United States.
Click on flag for map
![Iceland - Click for Information]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/ic-flag.gif){kind=small}
![Canada - Click for Information]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/ca-flag.gif){kind=small}
![United States - Click for Information]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/flags/us-flag.gif){kind=small}