in the 7th century. While Eastern Norway was introduced to Christianity by missionaries and monks from Germany and Friesland, Western Norway was mainly introduced to the religion by English, Scottish, Irish people and Vikings who had converted to Christianity. Norse paganism existed in some areas in Western Norway until they were totally replaced by Christianity in the 13th century. The coastal areas were the first to introduce the new faith, and then the inland areas. Churches were planted everywhere. Emigration to Iceland The main source of information about the settlement period in Iceland is the Book of Settlements (Landnámabók), written in the 12th century, which gives a detailed account of the first settlers. According to this book, Western Norwegian sailors accidentally discovered the country. A few voyages of exploration were made soon after that and then the settlement started. Ingólfur Arnarson was said to be the first settler. He was a chieftain from Norway, arriving in Iceland with his family and dependents in 874. He built his farm in Reykjavík, the site of the present capital. During the next 60 years or so, Viking settlers from Scandinavia and also from Norse colonies in the British Isles—Ireland, Scotland and the Scottish Isles—settled in the country. There was therefore a Celtic element among the first inhabitants. The settlement of Iceland may also be viewed in the context of the general Viking expansion of the period, plausibly linked to population pressure in Western Norway and increasing scarcity of farming land. It has thus left few traces in the archaeological record, nor has it contributed more than a handful of words to the Icelandic language, which was a Scandinavian dialect, more or less identical with the Viking Age Norse spoken in Western Norway, the Faroes, Shetland, Orkney, etc. Today it is estimated that 60% of the Icelandic population are descendants of people from Western Norway. Emigration to America For a century emigration was a central aspect of Norwegian history and more than 800,000 Norwegians emigrated to the United States. The first organized group of emigrants left Stavanger on the sloop Restoration on 4 July 1825. In 1837, Ægir left Bergen as the first ship with emigrants from Hordaland. The Emigration Center of Western Norway is a memorial to those who left and to their descendants. The emigrant archives now include 96,000 names of emigrants from the two counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane