FRANCE 24 English published this video item, entitled “Small Icelandic harbour keeps memory of French fishermen alive” – below is their description.
In this edition we take you to eastern Iceland, to discover a little-known chapter of maritime history. Nowadays Faskrudsfjordur is just a small village, but during some 400 years its harbour was a major stopping point. Every year, thousands of French fishermen would come to spend months at sea fishing cod in the cold Atlantic waters, a dangerous job which many paid the ultimate price for. To this day, the village still remembers them. Our colleagues from France 2 report, with FRANCE 24’s Wassim Cornet.
FRANCE 24 English YouTube Channel
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In This Story: Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 356,991 and an area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi), making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
Iceland’ gained independence in 1918 and founded a republic in 1944. Although its parliament (Althing) was suspended from 1799 to 1845, the island republic has been credited with sustaining the world’s oldest and longest-running parliament.
Hit hard by the worldwide financial crisis, the nation’s entire banking system systemically failed in October 2008, leading to an economic crisis and the collapse of the country’s three largest banks. By 2014, the Icelandic economy had made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism.
Iceland has the smallest population of any NATO member and is the only one with no standing army, with a lightly armed coast guard.
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