New Iceland

New Iceland (Icelandic: Nýja Ísland  listen ) is the name of a region on Lake Winnipeg in the Canadian province Manitoba which was named for settlers from Iceland. It was settled in 1875.

The first Icelandic emigrants to Canada were Mormons from the Westman Islands. The more general migration followed an offer from Lord Dufferin of land in Manitoba to establish what amounted to a "free state".

Due to harsh environmental and economic conditions in Iceland, including the eruption of Mount Askja, some 20,000 Icelanders left their homeland between 1870 and 1915 - roughly a quarter of the population of Iceland. In 1875 a large group of Icelandic immigrants migrated from Ontario to Manitoba, leaving Kinmount, Ontario, on September 25, 1875, for Gimli, Manitoba on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. One of the main reasons for the choice of the colony site was “the abundance of fish” in Lake Winnipeg, but according to Icelandic People in Manitoba, “their first attempts at fishing on Lake Winnipeg were not successful.” Moreover, the “winter of 1875–1876 was one of the coldest on record in Manitoba, and the settlers’ clothes, including the leather shoes from Ontario, were not suitable for the rigorous weather.” However, the immigrants eventually learned to handle the axe, prepare the soil, fish through ice, and hunt game. They also learned how to drain the land, grow crops, and build better houses.

...
Wikipedia