Gimli, Manitoba in Canada is also known as ‘New Iceland’, as it holds the greatest population of Icelanders outside of Iceland. This is mainly due to immigration from Iceland in the 1870’s when a large group of Icelanders settled here from the Westman Islands.
The 26,000 people with Icelandic heritage in the area still maintain links to Iceland; Icelandic festivals are honoured, a three day celebration of all things Icelandic takes place in the summer and you can study Icelandic at the University of Manitoba.
Best of all, the local newspaper – Interlake Enterprise – reviewed and enjoyed Iceland, Defrosted. I’m so pleased that it’s travelled to this Icelandic outpost and was well received!