<P> The age of settlement of Iceland ( Icelandic : landnámsöld ) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century , when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic . The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of the Norwegian king Harald I of Norway . Unlike the British Isles , Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants . </P>
<P> The age of settlement of Iceland ( Icelandic : landnámsöld ) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century , when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic . The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of arable land in Scandinavia and civil strife brought about by the ambitions of the Norwegian king Harald I of Norway . Unlike the British Isles , Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants . </P>
when was iceland believed to be first inhabited
when was iceland believed to be first inhabited
in the second half of the 9th century , when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic
in the second half of the 9th century , when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic