Lýðveldið Ísland

Lýðveldið Ísland or the Republic of Iceland has a distinctive culture of its very own which is due to the cultural forces. Biology has a major influence upon making the Icelandic culture what it is today. Iceland is a small country with a small population. The Icelandic people are a homogenous population and generally related. This produces similarities in the Icelandic's genetics and traditions. The causes of Iceland's homogenous population are just as interesting as the effects. Iceland is now a large area of interest for genetic research with a focus on identifying genes that are associated with diseases. The company deCODE Genetics; Inc. is the major pilot with the Icelandic research and has provided some findings and issues for the people. The impact of biology has changed the Icelandic culture in the past and present, and it will continue to do so in the future.

Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle (figure 1). The island has an area of 103,000km² of which 62% is tundra. The island is located on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and a hotspot resulting in a lot of volcanic activity. Iceland is divided into eight regions and Reykjavík is the capital and largest city. The population is at 306,694 people which 94% being Icelandic (CIA, 2009). Iceland has very little natural resources and the economy has been dependent on the fishing industry. The past ten years the main industries changed to the financial and technology sectors that lead to an economic boom. The growth stopped with the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis.

Iceland was discovered in the mid 9th century by Norsemen and was named by the Viking Flóki. Along with the Norsemen, Scandinavians, Celts, Scottish, and the Irish made the settlements of Iceland in 870AD. The result is the unique Icelandic culture and a homogenous population (figure 2). The Icelander's share genetics and heritage. The similar genetics causes the people to generally look alike, the "fairly homogenous gene pool has produced a country full of tall, blonde, blue-eyed people" (Baginski, 2008) (figure 3). Since the gene pool has remained comparatively the same in the past 35 generations, "the number of genetic causes of disease today reflects that of the smaller founding population" (Dr. Stefansson, 1999). The homogenous population is also reflected in the culture. Iceland ranks number one in gender equality which is based on Economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, health and survival (Globescope, 2009). There is no class structure.

Manners and Customs in Iceland.-Manners are simple in Iceland, as indeed in all the Scandinavian Countries; and are all the simpler here because there is really no distinction of ranks. Nobody is rich, and hardly anybody abjectly poor; everybody has to work for himself, and works, (except, to be sure, a few storekeepers in Reykjavik, and at one or two spots on the coast,) with his own hands. Wealth would not raise a man much above his fellows and there are indeed no means of employing it except in supplying a house with what would be thought in England indispensable comforts. The Cornhill Magazine, 1874

Iceland also displays high happiness and well-being levels which is influenced by cultural, historical, and genetic factors, "growing evidence that an individual's happiness level is largely shaped by genetic factors...and they have found that genes seem to play a major role in regulating these levels" (Diener and Suh, 2003).

Iceland's homogenous population has been caused be a number of influences. Ecology has its part with Iceland being an isolated island subjective to the bottle-neck effect and the volcanic activity. Móðuharðindi, Mist Hardships, was a natural disaster that occurred in 1783 after a volcanic eruption of Laki volcano; it killed 75% of the cattle and a fifth of the population (Sturluson, 2008). The Black Death hit Iceland in 1402-04 killing 50-60% of the population and then again in 1494-95 killing 30-50% of the population (Maddicott, 1997). In the 1707, a Small Pox epidemic occurred killing 18,000 people, a third of the population ("Milestones in Icelandic History," 2009). In the last quarter of the 19th century 20% the population emigrated, mostly to Canada (CIA, 2009). Isolation, ecology, diseases, famine, natural disasters, and political control all have formed the homogenous population.

The homogenous population makes Iceland ideally suited for genetic research. Other reasons why Iceland is appropriate for the research is the small populations, detailed medical records since 1915, and a strong cultural support for genealogy where 80% of all Icelandic people who have ever lived (approx. 800,000 people) can be traced on family