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Iceland
Republic of Iceland
National name: Lydveldid Island
President: Ólafur Ragnar
Grímsson (2004)
Prime Minister: Geir H. Haarde
(2006)
Current government officials
Land area: 38,707 sq mi (100,251 sq km);
total area: 39,768 sq mi (103,000 sq km)1
Population (2008 est.): 304,367 (growth
rate: 0.7%); birth rate: 13.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.2/1000;
life expectancy: 80.5; density per sq km: 3
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Reykjavik, 184,200 (metro. area), 114,800
(city proper)
Monetary unit: Icelandic
króna
Languages:
Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German
widely spoken
Ethnicity/race:
homogeneous mixture of Norse/Celtic
descendants 94%, population of foreign origin 6%
Religions:
Lutheran Church of Iceland 85.5%, Reykjavik
Free Church 2.1%, Roman Catholic Church 2%, Hafnarfjorour Free
Church 1.5%, other Christian 2.7%, other or unspecified 3.8%,
unaffiliated 2.4% (2004)
National Holiday:
Independence Day, June 17
Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $11.89 billion; per capita $39,400. Real growth rate:
1.8%. Inflation: 4.1%. Unemployment: 2.1%.
Arable land: 0.07%. Agriculture: potatoes, green
vegetables; mutton, dairy products; fish. Labor force:
180,000; agriculture, fishing and fish processing 5.1%, industry
23%, services 71.4% (2005). Industries: fish processing;
aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production; geothermal power,
tourism. Natural resources: fish, hydropower, geothermal
power, diatomite. Exports: $4.569 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.):
fish and fish products 70%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon,
diatomite. Imports: $5.777 billion (2007 est.): machinery and
equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs, textiles. Major
trading partners: UK, Germany, Netherlands, U.S., China, Spain,
Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden, Japan (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 193,700 (2006); mobile cellular: 328,500 (2006). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters),
shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 14 (plus
156 low-power repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 270,942
(2007). Internet users: 194,000 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: 13,028 km; paved: 4,241 km; unpaved: 8,787
km (2005). Ports and harbors: Grundartangi, Hafnarfjordur,
Hornafjordhur, Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur. Airports: 99
(2007).
International disputes: Iceland disputes
Denmark's alignment of the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line;
Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe
Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm.
1. Including some offshore
islands.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Iceland, an island about the size of Kentucky,
lies in the north Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and just touches the
Arctic Circle. It is one of the most volcanic regions in the world. More
than 13% is covered by snowfields and glaciers, and most of the people
live in the 7% of the island that is made up of fertile coastland. The
Gulf Stream keeps Iceland's climate milder than one would expect from an
island near the Arctic Circle.
Government
Constitutional republic.
History
The earliest inhabitants of Iceland were Irish
hermits, who left the island upon the arrival of the pagan Norse people in
the late 9th century. A constitution drawn up c. 930 created a form of
democracy and provided for an Althing, the world's oldest
practicing legislative assembly. The island's early history was preserved
in the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century.
In 1262–1264, Iceland came under Norwegian
rule and passed to ultimate Danish control through the unification of the
kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (the Kalmar Union) in 1397.
In 1874, Icelanders obtained their own
constitution, and in 1918, Denmark recognized Iceland, via the Act of
Union, as a separate state with unlimited sovereignty. It remained,
however, nominally under the Danish monarchy.
During the German occupation of Denmark in World
War II, British, then American, troops occupied Iceland and used it for a
strategic air base. While officially neutral, Iceland cooperated with the
Allies throughout the conflict. On June 17, 1944, after a popular
referendum, the Althing proclaimed Iceland an independent republic.
The country joined the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in 1949 and subsequently received an American air force base
in 1951. In 1970, it was admitted to the European Free Trade Association.
Iceland unilaterally extended its territorial fishing limit from 3 to 200
nautical miles in 1972, precipitating a dispute with the UK known as the
“cod wars,” which ended in 1976 when the UK recognized the new
limits. In 1980, the Icelanders elected a woman to the office of the
presidency, the first elected female chief of state (i.e., president as
distinct from prime minister) in the world. After the recession of the
early 1990s, Iceland's economy rebounded.
At the International Whaling Commission meeting
in July 2001, Iceland refused to agree to the continuation of the
moratorium on commercial whaling that had been in effect since 1986. In
2003, after a 14-year lull, the country began hunting whales for
scientific research.
In May 2003, David Oddsson was reelected, making
him the longest-serving prime minister in Europe. In 2004, in a
prearranged agreement made between the two parties of the coalition
government, Oddsson and Foreign Minister Halldór
Ásgrímsson switched positions. In June 2006
Ásgrímsson resigned as prime minister after his party did
badly in local elections. Economic troubles were cited as the main reason
for the Progressive Party's poor showing. Geir Haarde, leader of Iceland's
largest political party, the Independence Party, became prime minister and
announced the implementation of more fiscally conservative measures.
On October 9, 2008, amidst international stock
market turmoil, the Icelandic stock exchange suspended trading, and the
government decided to nationalize three major banks in Iceland. In
November 2008, the IMF extended a $2 billion rescue package to Iceland to
help its battered currency and stockmarket during the global financial
crisis.
See also Encyclopedia: Iceland. U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Iceland Statistics Iceland http://www.hagstofa.is/template40.asp?PageID=261 .
Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson
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