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Correct me if I'm wrong, but nearly all the immigration to Iceland happened before 1000 CE. That's why it's such a paradise for DNA research, and why they have

Correct me if I'm wrong, but nearly all the immigration to Iceland happened before 1000 CE. That's why it's such a paradise for DNA research, and why they have websites so you can check how closely you're related to someone before marrying them -- everyone's related to everyone else, at a fairly close level.

ytdytvhxgydvhh 3y ago
That was true a few decades ago. Demand for tourism jobs has outstripped supply (especially in summer months) so a good number of people have come to Iceland (some temporarily, some permanently) to work. Poles are the largest group, making up about 5% of the population of Iceland: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_Iceland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_Iceland Anecdotally, on a recent trip I briefly felt like there were no Icelanders in Iceland - I had a British masseuse, a Finnish horse tour guide, and a Namibian scuba guide.
- paddim8 3y ago
  Yeah Americans seem to have gotten the idea that nordic countries are completely homogenous for some reason. It's absurd how often I see them act like we can't compare our countries to the US because we apparently have no immigrants.
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    "Nordic countries" is an inappropriate generalization. The other ones are not islands.
    - paddim8 3y ago
      People say this about both Sweden and Iceland and it's not true for either of them.
    - dukeyukey 3y ago
      They aren't, but Scandinavia may as well be. The only land border is an icy, barely-populated taiga controlled by an extremely authoritarian, violence-happy enemy of the West. My bet is crossing that border is _significantly_ harder than the US-Mexico border
      - AlbertCory 3y ago
        they do have a bridge to Denmark now, though.
      - dontupvoteme 3y ago
        >The only land border is an icy, barely-populated taiga controlled by an extremely authoritarian, violence-happy enemy of the West Finland isn't that bad
  - mchaver 3y ago
    In the US there are many ideas about how things work in Sweden without closely considering facts. This is often politically motivated regardless of political affiliation.
  - bernawil 3y ago
    It's a mid 2000s internet trope that somewhat persists. Back when Ericsson and Nokia where cool the media would make an example of Sweden and Finland. Every discussion would be a variation on: - "I want $LIBERTARIAN_POLICY policy" - "In Sweden, they have $SOCIALIST_POLICY and its better!" - "That only works because it's small and homogeneous!" That, or people would motte-and-bailey harder left-wing opinions behind the Sweden motte.
- MrDresden 3y ago
  In most cases you have Icelanders running the tourism business, but they won't be fronting the business necessarily. That is where imported labour comes in.
wasmitnetzen 3y ago
The DNA check in dating is mostly a PR stunt by a local genetics research company.

ytdytvhxgydvhh 3y ago

That was true a few decades ago. Demand for tourism jobs has outstripped supply (especially in summer months) so a good number of people have come to Iceland (some temporarily, some permanently) to work. Poles are the largest group, making up about 5% of the population of Iceland: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_Iceland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_in_Iceland Anecdotally, on a recent trip I briefly felt like there were no Icelanders in Iceland - I had a British masseuse, a Finnish horse tour guide, and a Namibian scuba guide.

paddim8 3y ago
Yeah Americans seem to have gotten the idea that nordic countries are completely homogenous for some reason. It's absurd how often I see them act like we can't compare our countries to the US because we apparently have no immigrants.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  "Nordic countries" is an inappropriate generalization. The other ones are not islands.
  - paddim8 3y ago
    People say this about both Sweden and Iceland and it's not true for either of them.
  - dukeyukey 3y ago
    They aren't, but Scandinavia may as well be. The only land border is an icy, barely-populated taiga controlled by an extremely authoritarian, violence-happy enemy of the West. My bet is crossing that border is _significantly_ harder than the US-Mexico border
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      they do have a bridge to Denmark now, though.
    - dontupvoteme 3y ago
      >The only land border is an icy, barely-populated taiga controlled by an extremely authoritarian, violence-happy enemy of the West Finland isn't that bad
- mchaver 3y ago
  In the US there are many ideas about how things work in Sweden without closely considering facts. This is often politically motivated regardless of political affiliation.
- bernawil 3y ago
  It's a mid 2000s internet trope that somewhat persists. Back when Ericsson and Nokia where cool the media would make an example of Sweden and Finland. Every discussion would be a variation on: - "I want $LIBERTARIAN_POLICY policy" - "In Sweden, they have $SOCIALIST_POLICY and its better!" - "That only works because it's small and homogeneous!" That, or people would motte-and-bailey harder left-wing opinions behind the Sweden motte.
MrDresden 3y ago
In most cases you have Icelanders running the tourism business, but they won't be fronting the business necessarily. That is where imported labour comes in.

wasmitnetzen 3y ago

The DNA check in dating is mostly a PR stunt by a local genetics research company.