ABSTRACT
Iceland is a partly ice-covered (e.g., Vatnajökull, 8,400 square kilometers) volcanic island-astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, with over fifty active vents-of 102,973 square kilometers (or 39,699 square miles, compared to the state of Pennsylvania at 46, 058 square miles, and Ireland, 32,589 square miles) between NORWAY and Greenland, just south of the Arctic Circle. Less than one tenth of the island is habitable. Until recently agriculture was largely pastoral (with some fishing) and sensitive to weather, so that famine was not uncommon.
