Figure G.15

 Relative change in gross domestic product of Iceland (logarithmic scale).

industry in most of these. All towns and villages have road connections, although not necessarily good ones that are dependable in harsh winter weather. Iceland does not have any indigenous population of an ethnic origin different from the rest of the population. Immigration has been very limited.

The waters around Iceland used to be fished by both Icelanders and foreigners, with foreigners taking about one half of the catches of groundfish, of which cod is most important. Both world wars provided a temporary reduction in fishing pressure, as foreign fleets disappeared from the fishing grounds because of dangers to fishing vessels from military actions and the shift in manpower from fishing to fighting; when the wars were over fishing activities rebounded. The total catch of cod peaked in the mid-1950s, and cod became fully exploited and possibly overexploited as early as the late 1950s.

Icelanders are keenly aware of their dependence on the sea. The key to economic growth and rising standards of living was perceived to lie in ever-increasing fish catches. Accomplishing this was believed to require the elimination of foreign fishing around Iceland. The first attempt to reserve the fish stocks around Iceland for Icelanders was the passing of a law in 1948 claiming ownership of the living resources in the waters above Iceland's continental shelf. This law was inspired by the Truman Declaration of 1946 that claimed all resources on and beneath the seabed on the U.S. continental shelf as the federal property of the United States. On the basis of the 1948 law, Iceland extended its fishing limits several times in the 1950s and 1970s, sometimes before recognition of such