Editing Icelanders (section)

== Demographics and society ==
{{main|Demographics of Iceland}}

=== Genetics ===
[[File:Hvalsey Church.jpg|220px|thumb|right|The last written records of the [[Norse Greenlanders]] are from a 1408 marriage in [[Hvalsey Church]] – today the most well-preserved of the Norse ruins.]]
Due to their small founding population and history of relative isolation, Icelanders have often been considered highly genetically homogeneous as compared to other European populations. For this reason, along with the extensive genealogical records for much of the population that reach back to the [[settlement of Iceland]], Icelanders have been the focus of considerable [[genomics]] research by both [[biotechnology]] companies and academic and medical researchers.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Chadwick | first1 = R. | title = The Icelandic database—do modern times need modern sagas? | journal = BMJ | volume = 319 | issue = 7207 | pages = 441–444 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10445931 | pmc = 1127047 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.319.7207.441}}</ref><ref>Gísli Pálsson, 'The Web of Kin: An Online Genealogical Machine', in ''Kinship and Beyond: The Genealogical Model Reconsidered'', ed. by Sandra C. Bamford, James Leach, Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality, 15 (Berghahn Books, 2009), pp. 84–110 (pp. 100–103).</ref> It was, for example, possible for researchers to reconstruct much of the maternal genome of Iceland's first known black inhabitant, [[Hans Jonatan]], from the DNA of his present-day descendants partly because the distinctively African parts of his genome were unique in Iceland until very recent times.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Jagadeesan | first1 = Anuradha | display-authors = etal | year = 2018| title = Reconstructing an African Haploid Genome from the 18th Century | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 50 | issue = 2| pages = 199–205 | doi = 10.1038/s41588-017-0031-6 | pmid = 29335549 | s2cid = 9685229 }}</ref>

Genetic evidence shows that most DNA lineages found among Icelanders today can be traced to the settlement of Iceland, indicating that there has been relatively little immigration since. This evidence shows that the founder population of Iceland came from [[Scandinavia]], [[Ireland]] and [[Scotland]]: studies of [[Y-chromosomes]] and [[mitochondrial DNA]] indicate that 75% of Icelanders' patrilineal ancestry derives from Scandinavia (with most of the rest being from the Irish and British Isles), while 62% of their matrilineal ancestry derives from Scotland and Ireland (with most of the rest being from Scandinavia).<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.aar2625 | volume=360 | title=Ancient genomes from Iceland reveal the making of a human population | year=2018 | journal=Science | pages=1028–1032 | last1 = Ebenesersdóttir | first1 = S. Sunna | last2 = Sandoval-Velasco | first2 = Marcela | last3 = Gunnarsdóttir | first3 = Ellen D. | last4 = Jagadeesan | first4 = Anuradha | last5 = Guðmundsdóttir | first5 = Valdís B. | last6 = Thordardóttir | first6 = Elísabet L. | last7 = Einarsdóttir | first7 = Margrét S. | last8 = Moore | first8 = Kristjan H. S. | last9 = Sigurðsson | first9 = Ásgeir | last10 = Magnúsdóttir | first10 = Droplaug N. | last11 = Jónsson | first11 = Hákon | last12 = Snorradóttir | first12 = Steinunn | last13 = Hovig | first13 = Eivind | last14 = Møller | first14 = Pål | last15 = Kockum | first15 = Ingrid | last16 = Olsson | first16 = Tomas | last17 = Alfredsson | first17 = Lars | last18 = Hansen | first18 = Thomas F. | last19 = Werge | first19 = Thomas | last20 = Cavalleri | first20 = Gianpiero L. | last21 = Gilbert | first21 = Edmund | last22 = Lalueza-Fox | first22 = Carles | last23 = Walser | first23 = Joe W. | last24 = Kristjánsdóttir | first24 = Steinunn | last25 = Gopalakrishnan | first25 = Shyam | last26 = Árnadóttir | first26 = Lilja | last27 = Magnússon | first27 = Ólafur Þ. | last28 = Gilbert | first28 = M. Thomas P. | last29 = Stefánsson | first29 = Kári | last30 = Helgason | first30 = Agnar| issue=6392 | pmid=29853688 | bibcode=2018Sci...360.1028E | doi-access = free | hdl = 10852/71890 | hdl-access = free }}.</ref>

Other studies have identified other ancestries, however. One study of [[mitochondrial DNA]], [[blood groups]], and [[isozyme]]s revealed a more variable population than expected, comparable to the diversity of some other Europeans.<ref>Árnason ''et al.'', 2000</ref> Another study showed that a tiny proportion of samples of contemporary Icelanders carry a more distant lineage, which belongs to the [[Haplogroup C (mtDNA)|haplogroup C]]1e, which can possibly be traced to the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|settlement of the Americas]] around 14,000 years ago. This hints a small proportion of Icelanders have some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] ancestry arising from [[Norse colonization of North America|Norse colonization of Greenland and North America]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= A new subclade of mtDNA haplogroup C1 found in Icelanders: Evidence of pre-Columbian contact? |author= Sigríður Sunna Ebenesardóttir|display-authors=etal |date=10 November 2010|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21419 |pmid=21069749 |volume=144 |issue=1 |journal=Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. |pages=92–9}}</ref>

Icelanders also have an anomalously high [[Denisovan]] genetic heritage.<ref name=Skov2020>{{cite journal|first1=L. |last1=Skov |first2=M. C. |last2=Macià |first3=G. |last3=Sveinbjörnsson |display-authors=et al. |year=2020 |title=The nature of Neanderthal introgression revealed by 27,566 Icelandic genomes |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=582 |issue=7810 |pages=78–83 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2225-9 |pmid=32494067 |bibcode=2020Natur.582...78S |s2cid=216076889}}</ref>

Despite Iceland's historical isolation, the genetic makeup of Icelanders today is still quite different from the founding population, due to [[founder effects]] and [[genetic drift]].<ref>Helgason ''et al.'', 2000</ref> One study found that the mean Norse ancestry among Iceland's settlers was 56%, whereas in the current population the figure was 70%. This indicates that Icelanders with increased levels of Norse ancestry had higher reproductive success.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.aar2625 | volume=360 | title=Ancient genomes from Iceland reveal the making of a human population | year=2018 | journal=Science | pages=1028–1032 | last1 = Ebenesersdóttir | first1 = S. Sunna | last2 = Sandoval-Velasco | first2 = Marcela | last3 = Gunnarsdóttir | first3 = Ellen D. | last4 = Jagadeesan | first4 = Anuradha | last5 = Guðmundsdóttir | first5 = Valdís B. | last6 = Thordardóttir | first6 = Elísabet L. | last7 = Einarsdóttir | first7 = Margrét S. | last8 = Moore | first8 = Kristjan H. S. | last9 = Sigurðsson | first9 = Ásgeir | last10 = Magnúsdóttir | first10 = Droplaug N. | last11 = Jónsson | first11 = Hákon | last12 = Snorradóttir | first12 = Steinunn | last13 = Hovig | first13 = Eivind | last14 = Møller | first14 = Pål | last15 = Kockum | first15 = Ingrid | last16 = Olsson | first16 = Tomas | last17 = Alfredsson | first17 = Lars | last18 = Hansen | first18 = Thomas F. | last19 = Werge | first19 = Thomas | last20 = Cavalleri | first20 = Gianpiero L. | last21 = Gilbert | first21 = Edmund | last22 = Lalueza-Fox | first22 = Carles | last23 = Walser | first23 = Joe W. | last24 = Kristjánsdóttir | first24 = Steinunn | last25 = Gopalakrishnan | first25 = Shyam | last26 = Árnadóttir | first26 = Lilja | last27 = Magnússon | first27 = Ólafur Þ. | last28 = Gilbert | first28 = M. Thomas P. | last29 = Stefánsson | first29 = Kári | last30 = Helgason | first30 = Agnar| issue=6392 | pmid=29853688 | bibcode=2018Sci...360.1028E | doi-access = free | hdl = 10852/71890 | hdl-access = free }}. "[R]eproductive success among the earliest Icelanders was stratified by ancestry... [M]any settlers of Gaelic ancestry came to Iceland as slaves, whose survival and freedom to reproduce is likely to have been constrained... [Scandinavians] likely contributed more to the contemporary Icelandic gene pool than the other pre-Christians."</ref>

=== Emigration ===

==== Greenland ====
{{main|History of Greenland}}
[[Image:Gimli1 mb.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Gimli, Manitoba]], pop. 5,720 (statistics Canada, 2011), is home to the largest concentration of Icelanders outside of Iceland.]]
The first Europeans to emigrate to and settle in [[Greenland]] were Icelanders who did so under the leadership of [[Erik the Red]] in the late 10th century and numbered around 500 people. Isolated [[fjord]]s in this harsh land offered sufficient grazing to support cattle and sheep, though the climate was too cold for cereal crops. Royal trade ships from Norway occasionally went to Greenland to trade for walrus tusks and falcons. The population eventually reached a high point of perhaps 3,000 in two communities and developed independent institutions before fading away during the 15th century.<ref>Tomasson, pp. 405–406.</ref> A [[Papal legate|papal legation]] was sent there as late as 1492, the year [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]] attempted to find a shorter spice route to Asia but instead encountered the Americas.

==== North America ====
{{see also|Immigration to the United States|History of immigration to Canada}}
According to the ''[[Saga of Eric the Red]]'', Icelandic immigration to North America dates back to [[Vinland]] {{Circa|1006}}. The colony was believed to be short-lived and abandoned by the 1020s.<ref>Jackson, May 1925, pp. 680–681.</ref>  European settlement of the region was not archeologically and historically confirmed as more than legend until the 1960s. The former Norse site, now known as [[L'Anse aux Meadows]], pre-dated the arrival of Columbus in the Americas by almost 500 years.

A more recent instance of Icelandic emigration to North America occurred in 1855, when a small group settled in [[Spanish Fork, Utah|Spanish Fork]], [[Utah]].<ref>Jackson, May 1925, p. 681.</ref> Another Icelandic colony formed in [[Washington Island, Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtonisland.com/visitors-guide/island-history-culture/ |title=Island History and Culture |publisher=Washington Island |date=1996 |access-date=16 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611124405/http://www.washingtonisland.com/visitors-guide/island-history-culture/ |archive-date=11 June 2016 }}</ref> Immigration to the United States and Canada began in earnest in the 1870s, with most migrants initially settling in the [[Great Lakes]] area. These settlers were fleeing [[famine]] and [[overcrowding]] on Iceland.<ref>Library of Congress, 2004</ref> Today, there are sizable communities of Icelandic descent in both the United States and Canada. [[Gimli, Manitoba|Gimli]], in [[Manitoba]], Canada, is home to the largest population of Icelanders outside of the main island of Iceland.<ref>Vanderhill, 1963</ref>

=== Immigration ===
[[File:Retro Stefson - WAVES VIENNA2011 d.jpg|thumb|Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson, here playing with [[Retro Stefson]], is a prominent Icelander with a foreign background.]]
From the mid-1990s, Iceland experienced rising immigration. By 2017 the population of first-generation immigrants (defined as people born abroad with both parents foreign-born and all grandparents foreign-born) stood at 35,997 (10.6% of residents), and the population of second-generation immigrants at 4,473. Correspondingly, the numbers of foreign-born people acquiring Icelandic citizenship are markedly higher than in the 1990s, standing at 703 in 2016.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Loftsdóttir | first1 = Kristín | year = 2017 | title = Being 'the Damned Foreigner': Affective National Sentiments and Racialization of Lithuanians in Iceland | journal = Nordic Journal of Migration Research | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | pages = 70–77 [72] | doi = 10.1515/njmr-2017-0012 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>'[https://web.archive.org/web/20180301221616/https://www.statice.is/publications/news-archive/population/immigrants-and-persons-with-foreign-background-2017/ Immigrants and persons with foreign background 2017]' (16 June 2017).</ref> Correspondingly, Icelandic identity is gradually shifting towards a more [[multiculturalism|multicultural]] form.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gunnarsson | first1 = Gunnar J. | last2 = Finnbogason | first2 = Gunnar E. | last3 = Ragnarsdóttir | first3 = Hanna | last4 = Jónsdóttir | first4 = Halla | title = Friendship, Diversity and Fear: Young People's Life Views and Life Values in a Multicultural Society | journal = Nordidactica: Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education | volume = 2015 | pages = 94–113 }}</ref>