Iceland is a place.
Iceland ( [ ˈaɪslənd ] [ ˈistlant ] ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean . It has a population of and an area of 103000 km2 , making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe . Iceland thus followed Norway 's integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Sweden 's secession from that union in 1523 . Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity , and Iceland became one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world .