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| Languages of Iceland | |
|---|---|
| Official | Icelandic 93.2% Icelandic Sign Language |
| Immigrant | Polish 2.74% Lithuanian 0.43% English 0.32% German 0.31% Danish 0.31% Portuguese 0.28% Filipino 0.24% Thai 0.17% Latvian 0.14% Other 1.89% |
| Foreign | English (98%) Danish /Norwegian /Swedish French /German /Spanish |
| Signed | Icelandic Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | |
| Source | Statistics Iceland (2008) |
Iceland has been a very isolated and linguistically homogeneous island historically, but has nevertheless been home to several languages. Although theIcelandic orNorse language prevails, northern trade routes broughtGerman,English,Dutch,French andBasque to Iceland. Some merchants and clergymen settled in Iceland throughout the centuries, leaving their mark on culture, but linguistically mainly trade, nautical, and religious terms. Excluding these andLatin words, Icelandic has been altered remarkably little sincesettlement.
Icelandic is not only the national language, but is now “the official language in Iceland” by virtue of Act No 61/2011, adopted by parliament in 2011.[1]Icelandic Sign Language was also officially recognised by law in 2011 as a minority language with constitutional rights and the first language of the Icelandic deaf community. During the time ofDanish rule,Danish was a minority language in Iceland.[2] Iceland was a territory ruled byDenmark–Norway, making Danish one of its former official languages; its official status was terminated in 1944.
StudyingEnglish and Danish (or anotherScandinavian language) is mandatory for students in compulsory schools[3] and also part of many secondary-level study programmes, so knowledge of the two languages is widespread. Other foreign languages frequently studied includeGerman,Spanish and French. A telephone poll in 2011 indicates that 88% of Icelandic people hear English every day, and 65% hear English more than one hour a day.[4]
Temporaryvisitors and residents often make up a large portion of the population, especially in the capitalReykjavík.
Article 1; National language – official language; Icelandic is the national language of the Icelandic people and the official language in Iceland.
Icelandic towns were essentially turning Danish; the merchant class was Danish and well off Icelanders started speaking their language.
