G3-247 Report ICELAND
A Song of Fire and Dice
An Australian association report recently suggested that only Italy laid claim to operating VLTs in Europe. While a host of countries would disagree, not least Czech, Slovakia, Norway, Spain, etc. - Iceland has operated its thriving network during boom times, busts and back again.
Iceland is a booming little country which makes big headlines. Strangely, despite any major disas- ters everything seems to rectify itself remark- ably.
Its decision during the recession to let the major banks fail rather than bailing them out, saved this little country from economic ruin. Meanwhile it’s small, compact and closely monitored gaming sector, which was set up years ago, functions with very few changes or problems.
Iceland is a stunningly beautiful Nordic island country which sits between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans on the Mid Atlantic Range. It is the most sparsely populated country in
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01 During the banking crisis, the Kaupthing bank was the worst hit. Its glass headquarters once sat on the waterfront in Reykjavik and the bank had operations in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Its balance sheet was at one time four times as large as the annual economic output of the entire country. As the dust settled after the crisis, from the ashes new banks have emerged. It’s not all good news, however. Due to rising inflation many home owners pay more than what they initially borrowed whilst the crisis also led to the greatest migration from Iceland since 1887 with around 5,000 people leaving.
Europe with just 321,800 inhabitants in an area of 103,000
sq.km.
The capital Reykjavik is the largest city and the surrounding areas in the southwest region is home to two thirds of the country’s population.
It is the world’s 18th largest island and Europe’s second largest island after Great Britain. There are 30 minor islands including the lightly populated Grimsey and the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago. It has a 4,970km coastline where many settlements are situated and the interior, Highlands of Iceland, are cold and uninhabited.
Iceland is divided into eight regions – Austurland,
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