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People
Out of a population numbering more than 293.000, half live in the capital Reykjavík and its neighbouring towns in the southwest. Keflavík International Airport is located about 50 km from the capital. The highland interior is uninhabited (and uninhabitable), and most centres of population are situated on the coast.
Almost all Icelanders are descended from the same stock of original settlers, coming mainly from Western Norway in the 9th and 10th Centuries. The Icelanders have kept good family records and they can all trace their lineage back to the settlement period, over more than thirty generations. Moreover, medical data exist from the last two or three centuries. These circumstances have made Iceland an ideal basis for genetic research. The director of an international company operating out of Iceland,Dr Kari Stefansson of Decode Inc., will indeed give a paper on genetic research in Iceland at one of the sessions at the MPS meeting.
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