ICELAND TODAY

Here, we're in a land situated between latitude 63 and 66 north and longitude 13 and 24 west. A land which is nowhere more than 200 miles from the Arctic Circle. A land where in summer the sun shines almost 24 hours a day and it never really gets dark. An old land with new ideas, Iceland. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Iceland was given its name by a Norse Viking in the 9th century who, after wintering here, climbed a mountain and saw one of the fjords of the northwest coast full of ice in what must have been an unusually cold spring. In fact, only about 1/8 of the country is covered by permanent ice. >> [music] >> Nowadays, it's an easy country to get to. In a matter of hours, you can fly from London, Copenhagen, Luxembourg or New York. From London, [music] the flight takes only 2 and 1/2 hours. We'll start our visit to Iceland, like most visitors do, in Reykjavik, the capital city. Reykjavik now is a modern town spreading ever outwards and upwards to accommodate its 100,000 people, approximately half the population of Iceland. The rest of the population [music] is scattered around the island, mainly by the coast, leaving 7/8 of the country uninhabited. >> [music] >> The town itself is modern, full of bustle, with vehicles imported from every country in the world. The Lutheran churches are new, as are most of the houses and apartment blocks. Here, on the outskirts of the town, a complete new suburb will soon arise. The houses won't be cheap, because the only raw material that doesn't have to be imported is the cement. [music] Nearly all the buildings in Reykjavik are new, neat, and clean. There's no coal, so there's no smoke. The standard of living, too, is one of the highest in all Europe, and even compares with that of the USA. >> [music] >> Now, we're in the garden of Ásmundur Sveinsson, Iceland's leading sculptor, who lives in a house he built for himself just on the edge of the town. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Ásmundur Sveinsson is an approachable, adaptable man. He's a farmer's son from the west coast, but he says he wasn't much good on the farm, so his parents thought he might as well earn his living from something he was good at. After working abroad in France and Sweden, he returned to Iceland in 1930 and has worked here ever since. >> [music] [music] [music] >> When Svensson was a boy, his parents probably lived in a house built rather like this. On wedding days and for other important functions, they'd have worn their best traditional clothes, complete with tassels and silver ornaments. These buildings, which used to be a farm called the Árbær, are now preserved as a museum just on the edge of Reykjavik. There are very few of these old buildings left. They were solid, if not comfortable, and they all had to be built out of the materials then available: stones, driftwood, and turf, because there are no trees of any size in Iceland. Farms nowadays have changed somewhat, and so have farming methods. It's possible to make a living off only 20 acres of good grass, and there's an average of 1 and 1/2 tractors per farm. But though modern machines and tractors may have come into help, the type of farming hasn't changed very much over the years. It's still nearly all pastoral. On the rich green fields of Iceland, there are many cattle, descendants of those brought over by the early settlers, which supply Iceland with all the milk products it needs. The rougher pastures at a distance from the farm support many sheep. Sheep which are brought down to the valley in September for the annual sorting out and sheep shearing. But in spite of the vast numbers of cows and sheep, Iceland doesn't export much meat or dairy produce. Iceland's real wealth lies in the sea, in fish. More than 90% of Iceland's economy depends on fish. And production per fisherman is high due to mechanization and new techniques. Iceland has no great amount of natural resources, no coal, no iron ore, nothing which will support heavy industry. Everything that is brought into the country to make life more comfortable and more pleasant has to be paid for by fish. Much of it is processed ashore and exported in the form of frozen fish or dried fish to countries as far away as Nigeria. During the summer months from the Arctic seas, whales are brought in to the whaling station at Hvalfjörður, which is just a short drive from Reykjavik. >> As soon as it's landed, the whale is cut up and every part of it is used in some way. Even the teeth are sold as souvenirs to tourists. >> [music] >> Though Iceland may not have many natural resources, it's blessed with an abundance of free power from the center of the earth. Hot springs abound like these at Krisuvik. Some of the hot springs have been harnessed to provide a hot water supply for Reykjavik. >> [music] >> The hot water travels through insulated pipes to storage tanks on a hill in the town from where it is distributed. In spite of having to travel a distance of over 10 miles, the water temperature is still about 185° Fahrenheit. The only other town to have a similar hot water supply is Wellington in New Zealand. Houses aren't the only things to be heated. There are swimming pools, too. So, let's go swimming. It's the Icelanders' favorite pastime, anyway. And why not with all that free hot water? There are luxury pools in big hotels in Reykjavik and many out of doors both in the town and in the country. There are swimming pools everywhere. >> [music] >> There are smaller ones in out-of-the-way places and they're all heated by this bountiful supply of natural hot water. >> [music] >> Sometimes, it's free steam that's used for sauna baths. This one is by the lakeside at Laugarvatn. >> [music] >> Here, too, we can see one of the old methods of Icelandic cooking, [music] baking bread in hot sand. A tin containing the dough is just buried in the hot sand by the lakeside and then left for about 12 hours. >> [music] >> Of course, not many people use this method nowadays because water power has been harnessed to provide electricity and most Icelandic [music] homes have an electric cooker. >> [music] >> One town which really does depend entirely on the benefit of a hot water [music] supply from the earth is Hveragerði. This is a town of glass houses, 29 mi southeast of Reykjavik. The steam comes up in generous amounts at various places in the town and has been harnessed to heat glass houses by the hundred. Here grow all sorts of exotic flowers and vegetables. It's one of the unexpected attractions of Iceland, finding these tropical conditions so near to the Arctic Circle. >> [music] [music] >> But let's have a look how the bread is getting on. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> There it is, enough for a week for the average family >> [music] >> and done to a turn. >> [music] [music] [music] >> The water which Iceland possesses in generous quantities flows in a never-ending stream. Though the island is only about 300 miles across, it possesses some wide and fast-flowing rivers. And here at Dettifoss, one of the most impressive waterfalls in Europe. Skogafoss on the south coast. >> [music] >> Here is Gullfoss, the golden fall, which falls in two cascades, sending up spray [music] which can be seen from miles away. >> [music] >> In Borgarfjörður district, thousands of streams rush out of the cracks in the lava field and fall down to form a really beautiful river, [music] the Hvítá. >> [music] [music] >> The Icelandic rivers are well known and well stocked with fish, with trout and with salmon. >> [music] >> Iceland is a fisherman's paradise. In fact, the name of this river is the Laxá, which means the salmon river. There's only one thing, fishing rights tend to be rather expensive. >> [music] >> A cheaper form of recreation is to travel by pony. These sturdy Icelandic ponies, the descendants of [music] the ones brought over by the early settlers, are still in demand today. Not only by Icelanders, but by many visitors from abroad who like to see the country in the way it has always been done, from horseback. >> [music] >> You don't even have to learn to ride. You just sit there and let the ponies take you along. >> [music] [music] >> Icelandic ponies travel at the tölt, a sort of running walk that covers the ground remarkably quickly. This is how people from all over Iceland would travel to the old parliament, or thing. It took place here at Þingvellir, 30 mi north of Reykjavik, from the year 930 onwards. The thing lasted 14 days. 14 days of feasting, merrymaking, lobbying, and law making. The chiefs and their followers would all attend. They would gather to hear the laws being recited by the lögsögumaður, who for many years was the country's sole official, and did it all from memory, as nothing was written down for the first 300 years. This is where he would stand. And he'd see below him on the plain, which at that time was not cut by so many waterways, thousands of Icelanders all gathered to see justice dispensed, the laws upheld, and to meet friends. One of the reasons why the Icelandic language has stayed so pure and lacking in dialects, is this constant intercommunication. The chiefs had recognized campsites. This is one of them. All that's left to remind us of the multitudes who must have then filled this valley. Justice was harsh. Male offenders were sent abroad, fined, or beheaded. And female offenders were very often drowned in this pond. >> [music] [music] >> But now it's time for us to travel on to the town of Akureyri in the north. Akureyri is claimed to be the prettiest town in Iceland. Certainly, its setting is beautiful on the Eyjafjörður, and there's nothing between it and the Arctic. The population is about 10,000, and it's as modern as Reykjavik in its building and its standard of living. >> [music] >> From Akureyri, we can set out to see the north. There are no railways in Iceland, so we have to go by road. Roads which are adequate, if not very smooth. And the first place we visit is Dimmuborgir, a valley of fantastic shapes. 2,000 years ago, fiery rivers of lava flowed through here, leaving a labyrinth of canyons and peaks. Dimmuborgir means the black castles. >> [music] [music] >> And now for a little bit of relaxation on the water of Lake Myvatn. >> [music] >> This is one of the most famous places in Iceland, a shallow lake about 15 square miles in size and the most fertile spot of the globe on a similar latitude. This part of it was formerly a lava pool whose level dropped, leaving behind lava columns that solidified. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> From the cool of the lake, we move on to a barren landscape of smoking rocks, desert sands, and no vegetation, a landscape [music] scarred with steam and covered with sulfur. Námaskarð, where the earth boils. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Puffins are just one of the many varieties of wild bird that are found in Iceland, a country to delight any ornithologist. In fact, the coast provides interest enough for anyone, whether he comes as an ornithologist or just to enjoy the scenery. Iceland is a land of natural beauty. >> [music] >> A land of snow on the hills and heat under the ground. >> [music] >> A land where every corner brings a new view to delight the eye and a wonder to remember. >> [music] [music]