3 ms·

Are you Icelandic? Some of this seems misinformed and based on hearsay rather than fact. Around 10% of the Icelandic population are immigrants, which hardly qu

by salvar 9y ago

Are you Icelandic? Some of this seems misinformed and based on hearsay rather than fact. Around 10% of the Icelandic population are immigrants, which hardly qualifies as a low level. You could easily call it "wild, rugged" if you live in the highlands, but where most people live there's no stronger feeling of ruggedness than in any other northern European city or town. High prices are a barrier, I'll give you that, but the winters are milder than you'd think (we can thank the Gulf Stream for that). The language is definitely a barrier, but culturally I wouldn't say it's a big hurdle.

coldtea 9y ago
>Around 10% of the Icelandic population are immigrants, which hardly qualifies as a low level. What percentage is first generation low-skilled laborers outside of mainstream Icelandic society, or integrated immigrant citizens in all walks of life? There's a big difference between the two.
- avar 9y ago
  I'll bite, what's the big difference? Are you asking whether Iceland's foreign-born population is mainly seasonal workers? No, they're not. There's been a consistent increase in immigration since the mid-90s when Iceland joined the EU's free movement program. This pattern continued even though the 2008 crash (accelerated if anything). Iceland's the 6th richest country in the EEA by GDP PPP. There's a general trend in the EEA of people moving from east to west for better pastures, Iceland's biggest foreign-born population is Poland, followed by Lithuania. 1. https://hagstofa.is/utgafur/frettasafn/mannfjoldi/innflytjendur-1-januar-2016/ https://hagstofa.is/utgafur/frettasafn/mannfjoldi/innflytjen...
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >I'll bite, what's the big difference? The big difference would be as to whether immigrants are welcome and integrated, or merely tolerated as necessary evil unskilled laborers.
    - salvar 9y ago
      They are overwhelmingly welcome and integrated, although the integration level differs based on background, length of stay, language skills, etc.
SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago
> Are you Icelandic No, and I guess I should not comment based on a shallow understanding, as I clearly got some things wrong. The upside is that the replies like yours are informative and factual.

by salvar 9y ago

coldtea 9y ago

>Around 10% of the Icelandic population are immigrants, which hardly qualifies as a low level. What percentage is first generation low-skilled laborers outside of mainstream Icelandic society, or integrated immigrant citizens in all walks of life? There's a big difference between the two.

avar 9y ago
I'll bite, what's the big difference? Are you asking whether Iceland's foreign-born population is mainly seasonal workers? No, they're not. There's been a consistent increase in immigration since the mid-90s when Iceland joined the EU's free movement program. This pattern continued even though the 2008 crash (accelerated if anything). Iceland's the 6th richest country in the EEA by GDP PPP. There's a general trend in the EEA of people moving from east to west for better pastures, Iceland's biggest foreign-born population is Poland, followed by Lithuania. 1. https://hagstofa.is/utgafur/frettasafn/mannfjoldi/innflytjendur-1-januar-2016/ https://hagstofa.is/utgafur/frettasafn/mannfjoldi/innflytjen...
- coldtea 9y ago
  >I'll bite, what's the big difference? The big difference would be as to whether immigrants are welcome and integrated, or merely tolerated as necessary evil unskilled laborers.
  - salvar 9y ago
    They are overwhelmingly welcome and integrated, although the integration level differs based on background, length of stay, language skills, etc.

SideburnsOfDoom 9y ago

> Are you Icelandic No, and I guess I should not comment based on a shallow understanding, as I clearly got some things wrong. The upside is that the replies like yours are informative and factual.