Iceland
For alternative uses, see Iceland (disambiguation).
The
Republic of Iceland is an
island nation in the northern
Atlantic Ocean, located between
Greenland and
Scotland, northwest of the
Faroe Islands.
History
\nMain article: History of Iceland
Iceland was first settled by Norwegianss and
Celtic (
Scottish and
Irish) immigrants during the late
9th and
10th century. It boasts the world's longest running
parliament,
Alþingi, which was established in
930.
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, and 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 defense remained in the authority of the Danish and the Danish king remained the sovereign of the nation until
1944, when the current republic was founded.
Politics
\nMain article: Politics of Iceland
Iceland's ancient parliament, Alþingi, has been in place since medieval times. It has 63 members, each of whom are elected by the population every four years. The
head of government is the prime minister, who together with his cabinet takes care of the executive part of government. The prime minister is appointed by the president, who is elected every four years, and is the
head of state.
Administrative division
Municipalities
\nMain article: Municipalities of Iceland
There are 104 municipalities in Iceland that govern most local matters like schools, transportation and zoning.
Related topics: List of settlements in Iceland
Counties
\nMain article: Counties of Iceland
The 23 counties are mostly a historic division. Today Iceland is split up between 26 Magistrates that are the highest authority over the local police (except in Reykjavík 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.\nDistrict Courts
Iceland is split up into 8 district court jurisdictions.\nConstituencies
\nMain article: Constituencies of Iceland
Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the district court jurisdictions but by an amendment to the constitution they were changed so that today there are only 6 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 Reykjavík city area, the imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system but it still exists.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Iceland & List of cities in Iceland
Iceland is located on a geological hot spot on the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It has many active
volcanoes, notably the
Hekla, and 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. \n(
See also:
Volcanoes of Iceland)\nElectricity is generally very cheap because of the many rivers and waterfalls which are also used for the generation of electrical power.\n(
See also:
Rivers of Iceland,
Waterfalls of Iceland,
Lakes of Iceland)
The island itself has many fjords along the coastline, where also most cities are situated, because the island's interior, the
Highlands of Iceland are an uninhabitable desert. The main towns are the capital
Reykjavík,
Keflavík, where the national airport is situated, and
Akureyri. The island of
Grímsey, on the
Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.\n(
See also: Fjords of Iceland)
Unlike neighbouring
Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of
Europe, not of
America. The island is the
world's 18th largest island.
The island has four national parks:
Jökulsárgljúfur National Park,
Skaftafell National Park,
Snæfellsnes National Park and
Þingvellir.
Economy
\nMain article: Economy of Iceland
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.
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 center-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 privatizing 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 has slowed between 2000 and 2002, but is expected to pick up in 2003.
Demographics
\nMain article: 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
Scandinavian language, and the religion is predominantly
Lutheran.
Culture
\nMain article: Culture of Iceland
Some famous Icelanders include pop singer Björk; avant-garde rock band
Sigur Ros; and novelist
Halldór Laxness, winner of the
Nobel Prize for literature in
1955.
See also: Music of Iceland,
List of Icelandic authors,
Artists of Iceland
Miscellaneous topics
\n*List of Icelanders\n*
Communications in Iceland\n*
Geothermal power in Iceland\n*
Transportation in Iceland\n*
Military of Iceland\n*
Foreign relations of Iceland\n*
Stamps and postal history of Iceland\n*
Naming conventions of Iceland\n*
List of universities in Iceland\n*
Icelandic nationalism
External links
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Category:European countries\nCategory:Nordic countriesCategory:Iceland
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