Side by side
Denmark and Iceland compared
Two sourced records set beside each other — the figures each nation publishes, and the events each chronicle records of the other. Compared, never graded.
- Shared indicators
- 41
- Domains
- 9
- Crossed events
- 7
- Data through
- 2026-08-10
The figures, side by side
Each figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two dossiers. Every value shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation. A “—” is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Metric names link to the world ranking; values open the figure on its own dossier.
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Resources
Entangled histories
7 events in which either nation’s sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle; nothing here was written for this page.
- 7 Nov 1550
Execution of Bishop Jón Arason
Jón Arason, bishop of Hólar and the last Catholic bishop in Iceland, was beheaded with his two sons at Skálholt for resisting the Danish-imposed Reformation, after which Iceland became fully Lutheran.
Religion · from the Iceland chronicle · Under Norway and Denmark: Reformation, Monopoly and Famine · Jón Arason, Iceland: History
- 1602–1786
The Danish trade monopoly
The Danish crown confined all Icelandic trade to a small group of licensed Danish merchants, depressing prices and returns and impoverishing the island for nearly two centuries.
Economy & Trade · from the Iceland chronicle · Under Norway and Denmark: Reformation, Monopoly and Famine · Iceland: History, History of Iceland, 1840s to the Second World War
- 14 Jan 1814
Treaty of Kiel: the loss of Norway
Defeated alongside Napoleon, Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, ending a four-century union, while keeping Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
War & Rupture · from the Denmark chronicle · The Napoleonic Catastrophe and the Birth of Constitutional Denmark · Treaty of Kiel
- 1874
Constitution on the settlement millennium
On the thousandth anniversary of the settlement, Denmark granted Iceland a constitution and increased control over domestic affairs, though executive power remained with the crown.
Politics & Power · from the Iceland chronicle · National Awakening, Home Rule and Sovereignty · History of Iceland, 1840s to the Second World War, Þingvellir and the Independence Campaign
- 1 Dec 1918
The Act of Union and the Kingdom of Iceland
The Danish-Icelandic Act of Union made Iceland a sovereign state in personal union with the Danish crown, with Denmark retaining foreign affairs and the union open to termination after twenty-five years.
Independence · from the Iceland chronicle · National Awakening, Home Rule and Sovereignty · Act of Union (Iceland, 1918), History of Iceland, 1840s to the Second World War
- May 1940
British occupation of Iceland
After Germany occupied Denmark, British forces occupied strategically vital Iceland in May 1940 to forestall a German move, severing Iceland's last constitutional ties to its monarch.
War & Rupture · from the Iceland chronicle · Occupation, the Republic and NATO · History of Iceland from 1944, Iceland: History
- 17 Jun 1944
Founding of the Republic at Þingvellir
After an overwhelming referendum, Icelanders proclaimed a republic at Þingvellir, ending the union with Denmark; Sveinn Björnsson became the first president and 17 June became the national day.
Independence · from the Iceland chronicle · Occupation, the Republic and NATO · Iceland Becomes a Republic, History of Iceland from 1944, Sveinn Björnsson