The settlement of Iceland 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 Norse king Harald the Fair-haired. Unlike Britain and Ireland, Iceland was unsettled land, and could be claimed without warring on the inhabitants.
Historians typically refer to the year 874 as the first year of settlement, and the Icelandic Age of Settlement (Icelandic: Landnámsöld) is considered to have lasted from 874 to 930, at which point most of the island had been claimed and Alþingi (Althingi), the assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth, was founded in Þingvellir (Thingvellir). Almost everything known about the first settlers comes from Íslendingabók by Ari Thorgilsson, and Landnámabók, two historical records preserved in skin manuscripts. Landnámabók lists 435 men as the initial settlers, the majority of them settling in the northern and southwestern parts of the island.
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