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Iceland's population is relatively low compared to it's size; it is the most sparsely populated country in Europe, and one of the most sparsely populated worldwide. From the graph we can see that Iceland's population was 46 thousand in 1769, and it grows rather steadily to 341 thousand by 2020. Growth remained low during the nineteenth century due to mass emigration to the New World (particularly Canada). Iceland began campaigning for independence in the mid 1800s and independence was achieved gradually and through non-violent means between then and 1944, when it formally became an independent republic. During the Second World War Iceland was invaded by Britain, who occupied the country in order to prevent Germany from doing so, although this was done without force, and Iceland maintained their neutrality throughout the war, making Iceland's population one of the few in Europe not affected by the war. Iceland's population at the turn of each century was 47 thousand in 1801, 78 thousand in 1901 and 280 thousand in 2000.