Roberto La Rosa, Shutterstock Island Iceland is a rather closed country that has never been an object of desire for emigrants. Of course, it is possible to move there, but there are few people who want it – it is difficult, long, troublesome and costly. Therefore, the Icelanders today are experiencing serious problems with the influx of “fresh blood”, in the genetic sense, they are simply stewing in their own juice. The population of the country is just over 370 thousand people, and the stories that they all know each other are not such stories. If an Icelander does not want to become famous throughout the area, he needs to behave carefully in public places – otherwise, in a couple of days, half of the island will know about his antics. Some foreigners make fun of the Icelanders, asking if they really know their president personally? In this situation, there are certain difficulties with romantic relationships. Due to the fact that for centuries the inhabitants of Iceland have married only with each other, a decent part of the population of the island are relatives. In fact, they are all related to each other, but the degree of relationship plays an important role. For example, it is impossible to marry cousins or second cousins, but fourth cousins are already considered almost strangers, there is a green light. But how do Icelanders understand whether it is possible to start a relationship with a specific man or woman? What if this is a close relative, communication with which is taboo? It's simple: they don't go on a first date without first checking the degree of relationship. 
What's the problem?
Nataliya Derkach, Shutterstock/5r/pr/5rprphfm53c44kk00g0c0ow0o.jpg
Technology helps
The country has a special Internet resource called the Icelandic Book, created back in 2003. Its database contains information about all the inhabitants of the country and their family ties. Every Icelander can look at his family tree there and find out who his ancestors were. The Icelandic Book is based on genealogical books, historical documents, evidence of the settlement of the island. Many sources are hundreds of years old: they were painstakingly put together, digitized and made into a convenient service.
Any citizen of Iceland can log in to the site and get access to their family tree through their personal account. Young people actively use the Icelandic Book to find out about potential partners: just enter a first and last name, and the service will accurately show the degree of relationship. For many Icelanders, such a “breakthrough” of candidates is a mandatory procedure before starting a relationship.
More to read on the topic
- Why Icelanders do not have last names and how do they cope without them
- 6 Icelandic rules that will impress you for sure
- “Moving to Iceland is the most amazing thing I have done in my life”: story Russian women