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The Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Lveldi sland) is a borderless nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean, located between Greenland and Scotland, northwest of the Faroe Islands.
HistoryMain article: History of Iceland Iceland was first settled by Scandinavians, mainly Norwegians (Vikings), and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th century. It boasts the world's oldest parliament, Alingi, which was established in 930, although it has not run continuously since that date. 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 Danes and the Danish king remained the sovereign of the nation until 1944, when the current republic was founded. PoliticsMain article: Politics of Iceland Iceland's parliament, Alingi, was founded in the mid-19th century 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 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 his cabinet, takes care of the executive part of government. The cabinet is appointed by the president after general elections to Alingi; however, this process is usually conducted by the leaders of the political parties, who decide what parties will form the cabinet and how the seats are distributed (under the condition that it has a majority support in Alingi). 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 Bjrnsson, who had been installed in that position by the Alingi in 1941) did appoint a non-parliamentary government. The regent had, for all practical purposes, the position of a president, and Sveinn Bjrnsson actually went on to become the country's first president in 1944. The governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more parties involved, since a single political party has never received a majority of seats in Alingi. 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 otherwise. 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: Administrative divisionMunicipalitiesMain article: Municipalities of Iceland There are 104 municipalities in Iceland that govern most local matters like schools, transportation and zoning. CountiesMain 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 Reykjavk 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. District CourtsIceland is split up into eight district court jurisdictions. According to a United Nations document on Iceland:
List of District Courts
ConstituenciesMain 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 Reykjavk city area. The imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system but it still exists.  GeographyMain article: Geography of Iceland & List of settlements 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. (See also: Volcanoes of Iceland) Electricity is generally very cheap because of the many rivers and waterfalls which are also used for the generation of electrical power. (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 Reykjavk, Keflavk, where the national airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grmsey, on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland. (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: Jkulsrgljfur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, Snfellsnes National Park and ingvellir. MilitaryMain article: Military of Iceland The Republic of Iceland has no regular armed forces. Defense is provided by a US manned NATO base in Keflavk. Iceland has a Coast Guard (Landhelgisgslan) and a SWAT team which is called Vkingasveitin (Viking Squad) and is under the command of the Reykjavk chief of police. EconomyMain 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 slowed between 2000 and 2002, but the economy expanded by 4.3% in 2003 and is expected to grow by over 6% in 2004. The unemployment-rate of 2.6% (3rd quarter 2004) is the second lowest in the European Economic Area after Liechtenstein. DemographicsMain 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. CultureMain article: Culture of Iceland Some famous Icelanders include pop singer Bjrk; avant-garde rock band Sigur Rs; and novelist Halldr Laxness, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955. See alsoMiscellaneous topics
External links
bg:Исландия ca:Islndia cs:Island cy:Gwlad yr I da:Island de:Island et:Island es:Islandia eo:Islando fr:Islande gd:Innis Tile he:איסלנד hr:Island id:Islandia is:sland it:Islanda la:Islandia lv:Islande lt:Islandija hu:Izland ms:Iceland nl:IJsland ja:アイスランド no:Island nds:Island pl:Islandia pt:Islndia ro:Islanda ru:Исландия simple:Iceland sl:Islandija fi:Islanti sv:Island uk:Ісландія zh-cn:冰岛 ang:sland |
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