what do they speak iceland?
Icelandic Language
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 Icelandic , a North Germanic language , is the official language of Iceland ( de facto ; the laws are silent about the issue ) . Icelandic has inflectional grammar comparable to Latin , Ancient Greek , more closely to Old English and practically identical to Old Norse . 

contradiction
 Icelanders are a Germanic ethnic group and nation , native to Iceland . 

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 Written Icelandic has changed little since the 13th century . Because of this , modern readers can understand the Icelanders ' sagas . The sagas tell of events in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries . They are considered to be the best @-@ known pieces of Icelandic literature . 

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 Icelanders have had a tumultuous history . Development of the island was slow due to a lack of interest from the countries controlling it for most of its history : Norway , Denmark – Norway , and ultimately Denmark . Through this time , Iceland had relatively little contact with the outside world . The island became independent in union with Denmark in 1918 . Since 1944 , Iceland has been a republic , and Icelandic society has undergone a rapid modernisation process in the post @-@ independence era . 

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 On 17 June 1944 , when the Icelandic republic was founded , the Icelanders became independent from the Danish monarchy . The language spoken is Icelandic , a North Germanic language , and Lutheranism is the predominant religion . Historical and DNA records indicate that around 60 to 80 percent of the settlers were of Norse origin ( primarily from Western Norway ) and the rest were of Celtic stock from Ireland and peripheral Scotland . 
