REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Dusk falls late in the evening this time of year on the island nation of Iceland where slightly fewer than 300,000 people live, half of them in this capital city of Reykjavik. Shops and malls go to sleep. Discotheques arise.
The economy, long dependent on the sea to provide bounty, is booming with computer and biotechnology companies, and the fishing industry has gone high-tech.
Startling in its natural beauty, Iceland is increasingly a mecca for wilderness and ecotourism. A trout stream and a salmon river run through this capital, and expeditions spirit visitors to the mountains, glaciers and fjords, where kayakers can get close to migrating whales.
The vast majority of Icelanders, 94 percent, are descended from Vikings and Celts who settled on the island in the ninth century.
The nation has the most homogeneous society in Europe, and is home to deCode, a pioneering research firm hoping to capitalize on Iceland’s DNA heritage and unravel cures for diabetes, heart disease, asthma, obesity and other illnesses.
Having a small defense force but lacking a full-sized army, navy or air force, the Icelandic federal budget contains no large-scale military funding. But with a U.S. Naval Air Station on the island, Iceland is a strong ally of the United States. The administration of Prime Minister Halldor Asgrimsson supports the Bush administration in Afghanistan and Iraq, a fact that troubles many ordinary people. The foreign affairs ministry announced in June that it is sending more peace corps types to Afghanistan in September.
Because it has no large-scale military to fund, Iceland has maintained a generous, by United States standards, health care and social welfare system. But as is the case in Germany, France and other European democracies, privatizations and erosion of the social safety net has occurred.
Banks have been privatized, and Icelanders can be heard complaining of red tape and charges for transactions. Last week, the government signed a purchase agreement with a private investment firm for its 98 percent share in Siminn, the nation’s telephone company.
A week ago, as Reykjavik residents were piling into family cars to head out on a three-day holiday weekend, operators of diesel trucks conducted a rolling blockade of highways to protest the loss of a government fuel oil subsidy.
Just as conservative voices have criticized the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the United States, similar criticism is under way against government broadcasting here.
Although Icelanders enjoy a relatively high standard of living, inequality in wealth has grown. Many of the newest immigrants work in fish processing or other lower-paying jobs.
A recent concert by the rapper Snoop Dogg and an earlier one by 50 Cent touched off a discussion about the corrosive effect of sexist lyrics and imagery.
Older Icelanders object that their culture is under siege by American popular influence. Hollywood blockbusters screen here not long after their U.S. release, and cop dramas, sitcoms and television shows like “Desperate Housewives” enjoy a big draw.
English is a requirement in grade school, and teenagers in video-game parlors can be heard hurling American slang.
The number of people serving prison sentences for drug crimes, although small, quadrupled between 1990 and 2003. Still, government figures show total criminal offenses holding steady since 1999.
Meanwhile, with little stigma on co-habitation, the marriage rate has fallen since the mid 1970s. But the divorce rate has held steady.
The small nation is the world’s 11th largest fishing power.
For generations, fishing has been central to Iceland, and protection of its rich fishing grounds are the primary reason the nation has not fully joined the European Union. Hoskuldur Steinarsson, director of information at the Directorate of Fisheries, said seafood accounts for 48 percent of the total export value of goods and service and 62 percent of the export value of goods from the nation.
Cod accounted for 40 percent of total seafood export revenue last year. However, haddock is the most popular fresh or frozen fish with Icelanders.
Although the economy is dependent on the fishing industry, biotechnology and tourism are gaining ground.
From river rafting, horseback caravans, trekking and snowmobiling, visitors can find attractions for most tastes and pocketbooks.
For more information about tours and attractions, go to www.goiceland.org. For information about official Iceland, go to http://www.government.is.
The Third Person 