Polity · 936 CE – 1271 CE
Icelandic Commonwealth
- Peak recorded area
- 112,115 km²
- 936 CE
- Data series
- 26
- 990 CE–1262 CE
Overview
The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With the probable exception of hermitic Irish monks known as Papar, Iceland was an uninhabited island until around 874.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
2 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1271 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population4 obs · 930 CE–1262 CE | 55Kpersons1262 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Polity Population2 obs · 1100 CE–1200 CE | 4.6score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Largest Settlement Pop | 250persons930 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Economy
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Agricultural Sophistication3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Monetary Complexity3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0.6667score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Agriculture Intensity | 2ordinal1100 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Agriculture | 1ordinal1100 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Fishing | 3ordinal1100 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Gathering | 0ordinal1100 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Military Sophistication3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0.75score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Military Levels2 obs · 1065 CE–1232 CE | 3levels1232 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Polity Territory3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 5.01score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Territory km² | 103Ksq km930 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Religious Hierarchy2 obs · 993 CE–1159 CE | 2levels1159 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Admin Levels | 4levels930 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Jurisdictional Hierarchy | 3ordinal1100 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Development
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Government Complexity3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0.1909score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Hierarchy Levels3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 2.67score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Information Complexity3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0.9154score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Infrastructure3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 0score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Largest Settlement Pop3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 2.4score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Religious Levels3 obs · 1000 CE–1200 CE | 2score1200 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
Seshat Equinox 2020Equinox 2020
Turchin, P. et al. Seshat Global History Databank, Equinox 2020 release.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Icelandic Commonwealth is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.