Iceland on Pixibot

LÃ½Ã°veldiÃ° Ãsland


(In Detail)	(In Detail)

National motto: None

Official language

Icelandic

Capital and largest city

ReykjavÃk

President

Ã“lafur Ragnar GrÃmsson

Prime Minister

HalldÃ³r ÃsgrÃmsson

Area - Total - % water

Ranked 107th 103,125 kmÂ² 2.70%

Population - Total (2004) - Density

Ranked 169th 293,291 2.84/kmÂ²

Independence - Sovereignty - Republic

1 December 1918 17 June 1944

GDP (2003) - Total (PPP) - Total - GDP/capita (PPP) - GDP/capita

$9 billion (127th) $15 billion (87th) $35,686 (5th) $52,063 (4th)

Currency

Icelandic KrÃ³na

Time zone - in summer

GMT (UTC0)

National anthem

LofsÃ¶ngur

Internet TLD

.is

Calling Code

354

The Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: LÃ½Ã°veldiÃ° Ãsland) is a borderless country in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, and the British Isles.

History

History of Iceland

Iceland remained one of the world's last larger islands uninhabited by humans, until it was first settled by Norwegian vikings. The Book of Settlements tells that the first settler, Ingolfur, was killed by his Irish slaves, who fled to the Vestmannaeyjar (The Westman Islands). It boasts the world's oldest parliament, Althing (located in Thingvellir), which was established in 930. Some literary evidence suggests that Irish monks may have been living in Iceland before the arrival of Norse settlers but no archaeological evidence has been found. Genetic studies indicate that Iceland was settled by a group consisting of (or descended from) both Norse men and Gaelic women from Ireland (Am. J. Hum. Genet, 2001).

Iceland remained independent for over 300 years, and was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark, formally as a Norwegian crown colony until 1814, when the united kingdoms of Denmark and Norway were separated by the Treaty of Kiel; afterwards Iceland was kept by Denmark as a dependency. Limited home rule was granted by the Danish government in 1874, and protectorate-like independence and sovereignty over domestic matters followed in 1918. Foreign relations and defence remained under the authority of the Danes until the World War II military occupation of Denmark by Germany in 1940. Subsequently, Iceland was occupied by the Allies. The Danish king remained the de jure Iceland sovereign of the nation until 1944, when the current republic was founded in the absence of Danish authority.

The new republic became a charter member of NATO in 1949 and signed a treaty with the United States in 1951 to take responsibility for the defence of Iceland. Today the US continues to operate a military base in KeflavÃk based on this agreement, but Iceland has no armed forces of its own. The economy of Iceland remained dependant of fisheries in the post-war decades and the country has had several clashes with its neighbours over this vital resource, most notably the Cod Wars with the British. The economy has become more diverse recently owing to large investments in heavy industry such as aluminum smelting and deregulation and privatization in the financial sector. Iceland is a member of the Common market of the European Union through the EEA agreement but has never applied for membership of the EU itself. If Iceland were to join the EU they would have to share the fishing waters near Iceland and that is not something they are willing to do.

Politics

Politics of Iceland

The modern parliament, called "Althing", was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish king. It was widely seen as a reestablishment of the assembly founded in 930 in the Commonwealth period and suspended in 1799. It has currently 63 members, each of whom is elected by the population every four years. The president of Iceland is a largely ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat, figurehead and head of state. The head of government is the prime minister, who, together with the cabinet, takes care of the executive part of government. The cabinet is appointed by the president after general elections to Althing; however, this process is usually conducted by the leaders of the political parties, who decide among themselves after discussions which parties can form the cabinet and how its seats are to be distributed (under the condition that it has a majority support in Althing). Only when the party leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in reasonable time does the president exercise this power and appoint the cabinet himself. This has never happened since the republic was founded in 1944, but in 1942 the regent of the country (Sveinn BjÃ¶rnsson, who had been installed in that position by the Althing in 1941) did appoint a non-parliamentary government. The regent had, for all practical purposes, the position of a president, and BjÃ¶rnsson in fact became the country's first president in 1944. The governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more parties involved, due to the fact that no single political party has received a majority of seats in Althing in the republic period. The extent of the political powers possessed by the office of the president are disputed by legal scholars in Iceland; several provisions of the constitution appear to give the president some important powers but other provisions and traditions suggest differently.

The president is elected every four years (last 2004), the cabinet is elected every four years (last 2003) and town council elections are held every four years too (last 2002).

Related topics

List of political parties in Iceland
List of Presidents of Iceland
Prime minister of Iceland

Administrative division

The municipalities of Iceland

Municipalities Municipalities of Iceland Air Iceland

There are 95 municipalities in Iceland which govern most local matters like schools, transportation and zoning.

The administrative counties of Iceland

Counties Counties of Iceland

Iceland's 23 counties are for the most part historical divisions. Currently, Iceland is split up between 26 magistrates that are the highest authority over the local police (except in ReykjavÃk, where there is a special office of police commissioner) and carry out administrative functions such as declaring bankruptcy and marrying people outside of the church.

The regions of Iceland

Regions Regions of Iceland

There are eight regions which are primarily used for statistical purposes; the district court jurisdictions also use an older version of this division.

The constituencies of Iceland

Constituencies Constituencies of Iceland

Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the regions, but by an amendment to the constitution they were changed to the current six constituencies. The change was made in order to balance the weight of different districts of the country since a vote cast in the sparsely populated areas around the country would count much more than a vote cast in the ReykjavÃk city area. The imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system, but still exists.

Geography

Geography of Iceland and List of settlements in Iceland The World Factbook map of Iceland

Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of the arctic circle, which passes through the small island Grimsey off the north coast of Iceland, but not through Iceland itself. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of America. The island is the world's 18th largest island.

Iceland is located on a geological hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The combination of being both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and on a hot spot means that the island is extremely geologically active. It has many active volcanoes, notably Hekla. Around 10% of the island is glaciated. Iceland has many geysers (itself an Icelandic word) and the widespread availability of geothermal power means residents of most towns have hot water and home heat for a low price. Electricity is generally very cheap because of the many rivers and waterfalls which are also used for the generation of electrical power.

The island itself has many fjords along the coastline, which is also where most towns are situated, because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold uninhabitable desert. The main towns are the capital ReykjavÃk, KeflavÃk, where the national airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of GrÃmsey, on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.

Iceland has four national parks: JÃ¶kulsÃ¡rgljÃºfur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, SnÃ¦fellsnes National Park and Ãžingvellir

Related topics

Fjords of Iceland
Lakes of Iceland
National parks of Iceland
Rivers of Iceland
Volcanoes of Iceland
Waterfalls of Iceland

Military

Military of Iceland

The Republic of Iceland has no regular armed forces. Defence is provided by a predominantly US-manned NATO base in KeflavÃk. Iceland has a Coast Guard (LandhelgisgÃ¦slan) and a SWAT team called SÃ©rsveitin Iceland Vacation (The Special Operations Task Force). The Special Operations Task Force is similar to Germany's GSG-9 and Britain's SAS, a small and well trained group of operatives. The team handles security of the state, anti-terrorism projects, security of foreign dignitaries, as well supporting the police forces in the country when needed. Member of the Task Force were deployed in the Balkans as a part of an operations lead by NATO. The Special Operations Task Force used to be under the command of the ReykjavÃk Chief of Police; however, in 2004, a new law was passed that put the Special Operations Task Force directly under the command of the minister of justice (currently BjÃ¶rn Bjarnason). According to this new law, the minister of justice appoints a national chief of police to control and direct the Icelandic police force, including the Special Operations Task Force.

Economy

Economy of Iceland A block of ice near JÃ¶kulsÃ¡rlÃ³n.

Iceland is one of the ten richest countries in the world based on GDP per capita at purchasing power parity. The economy depends heavily on the fishing industry, which provides over 60% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. In the absence of other natural resources (except for abundant hydro-electric and geothermal power), Iceland's economy is vulnerable to changing world fish prices. The economy remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to drops in world prices for its main exports: fish and fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon. Although the Icelandic economy is heavily dependant on fishing it is constantly becoming less important as the travel industry, the technology industry and various other industries grow.

The only natural resource conversion is the manufacture of cement. Most buildings are concrete with expensive imported wood used only sparingly and where necessary.

The centre-right government plans to continue its policies of reducing the budget and current account deficits, limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, diversifying the economy, and privatising state-owned industries. The government remains opposed to EU membership, primarily because of Icelanders' concern about losing control over their fishing resources.

Iceland's economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, and new developments in software production, biotechnology, and financial services are taking place. The tourism sector is also expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and whale-watching. Growth slowed between 2000 and 2002, but the economy expanded by 4.3% in 2003 and grew by 5.2% in 2004. The unemployment-rate of 2.0% (July 2005) is the lowest in the European Economic Area.

Over 99% of the country's electricity is produced from hydropower and geothermal energy.

Related topics

Geothermal power in Iceland
Iceland and its future hydrogen economy

Demographics

Demographics of Iceland

The isolated location of Iceland has resulted in limited immigration and limited genetic inflow in its human population over hundreds of years. The resulting genetic similarity is being exploited today for genetic studies.

The language spoken is Icelandic, a North Germanic language, and the religion is predominantly Lutheran.

Important foreign languages include Danish and other Scandinavian languages, English and German.

Religion Iceland Travel

Icelanders enjoy freedom of religion as stated by the constitution; however, church and state are not separated and the Church of Iceland, a Lutheran body, is the state church. The national registry keeps account of the religious affiliation of every Icelandic citizen and according to it Icelanders were in 2004 divided into religious groups as follows:

85.5% members of the Church of Iceland.
3.6% members of the Free Lutheran Churches of ReykjavÃk and HafnarfjÃ¶rÃ°ur.
2.4% not members of any religious group.
2.0% members of the Catholic Church.

The remaining 6.5% is mostly divided between a number of other Christian denominations and sects, with less than 1% of the population in non-Christian religious organisations including a tiny group of ÃsatrÃº followers.

Most Icelanders are very liberal in their religious beliefs and do not attend church regularly.

Culture

Culture of Iceland

Some famous Icelanders include pop singer BjÃ¶rk; avant-garde rock band Sigur RÃ³s; and novelist HalldÃ³r Laxness, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955. In addition, the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer became an Icelandic citizen on March 21, 2005. Russian pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy has been a citizen since 1972.

Iceland's literacy rate is among the highest in the world, and the love of literature, chess, and other intellectual pursuits is widespread.

Iceland has world renowned nightlife. Downtown ReykjavÃk has many clubs and pubs that often feature live bands.

An important key to understanding Icelanders and their culture (and which differentiates them from many contemporary Nordic peoples) is the high importance they place on the traits of independence and self-reliance. Icelanders are proud of their Viking heritage and Icelandic language. Modern Icelandic remains close to the Old Norse spoken in the Viking Age.

Icelandic society and culture are very "woman friendly" with women in leadership positions in government and business. Women retain their names after marriage, since Icelanders generally do not use surnames but patronyms or matronyms.

Cliffs at the town of GrÃmsey, on the Arctic Circle.

Related topics

Artists of Iceland
List of Icelandic authors
Music of Iceland
Nightlife in ReykjavÃk

Miscellaneous facts about Iceland

It is mandatory to keep the headlights on while driving, even in daylight.
In 2004, British citizens made up the single largest group of tourists to Iceland (60,000) followed by Americans (48,000).
The glacier VatnajÃ¶kull is the largest glacier in Europe; in fact, it is bigger than all non-Icelandic glaciers in Europe combined. It covers 8,100 kmÂ² out of the 103,000 kmÂ² island the Icelanders live on
The tallest construction of Western Europe is located in Iceland, it is the 412 metre high Longwave radio mast Hellissandur near Hellissandur.
Iceland is located partly on the North American tectonic plate and partly on the Eurasian one.
The Icelandic language is the closest language to old Norse, the language of the Vikings.

Miscellaneous topics

Communications in Iceland
Foreign relations of Iceland
Naming conventions of Iceland
Icelandic nationalism
Icelandology
List of Icelanders
List of universities in Iceland
Military of Iceland
Reporters without borders world-wide press freedom index 2002: rank 1 out of 139 countries (4 way tie)
Stamps and postal history of Iceland
Transportation in Iceland

Car Iceland In Rental