Iceland was established in the first century.
Iceland . According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók , the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island . Following a period of civil strife , Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century . In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars , Iceland 's struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918 and the founding of a republic in 1944 .