Oldest Icelander turns 109

Sólveig Pétursdóttir is the oldest living Icelander, and she celebrated her 109th birthday yesterday. She was born in 1897 on the Keldunúpur farm, south Iceland and married farmer Gunnar Jónsson whom she had seven children with. Sólveig lived at her farm in Öræfi with one of her sons until 1993, when she moved to an elderly people's home in Höfn, Hornafjörður.

Sólveig has 67 descendants who say that her high age is due to her unique joy of living and the fact that she kept on working hard until she was 93 years old. Sólveig is now hard of hearing and her eyesight is failing, but she loves to knit and receive visits from her family.