Talk:Icelandic American
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anyone on here by any chance experts on icelandic americans and/or icelandic people in general?
i could use some help expanding this article.
Gringo300 05:33, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Re: help/expansion
I'm not a self-claimed expert, but I know some things about Iceland's emigration. I'd like to contribute to this article, but I'm still learning the ropes of Wikipedia, so be forewarned.
- Most Americans of Icelandic descent live in areas where other Scandinavian descendants and German descendants reside (upper Midwest, mostly). There are "patches" of Icelandic descendants in the South and coastal California, too.
- Iceland suffered famines and geologic disasters during the 18th and 19th centuries. Tens of thousands of Icelanders fled to North America during this time period (I read somewhere that the emigration accounted for 20 percent of Iceland's population at the time).
- Leif Ericson, an Icelander, was the first known European to set foot on North America (specifically, Newfoundland) sometime around 1000 AD. Sadly, this isn't common knowledge in the U.S., probably because Leif's voyage is overshadowed by Christopher Columbus, and because it's recently discovered knowledge. Something to consider adding to this article.
Weltanschauung 21:50, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
