firewood curing techniques
| Republic of Iceland Lýðveldið Ísland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
| Motto: None | ||||||
| Anthem: Lofsöngur | ||||||
Location of Iceland (orange) in Europe (white) | ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) | Reykjavík 64°08′N 21°56′W / 64.133°N 21.933°W / 64.133; -21.933 | |||||
| Official languages | Icelandic | |||||
| Ethnic groups | 93% Icelandic, 7.0% (see demographics) | |||||
| Demonym | Icelander, Icelandic | |||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic | |||||
| - | President | Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir | ||||
| - | Althing President | Guðbjartur Hannesson | ||||
| Independence | from Denmark | |||||
| - | Home rule | 1 February 1904 | ||||
| - | Sovereignty | 1 December 1918 | ||||
| - | Republic | 17 June 1944 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 103,000 km2 (107th) 39,770 sq mi | ||||
| - | Water (%) | 2.7 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 1 December 2008 estimate | 319,7561 (172nd) | ||||
| - | December 1980 census | 229,187 | ||||
| - | Density | 3,1/km2 (233rd) 7.5/sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $12.274 billion[1] (132nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $39,167[1] (5th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $20.228 billion[1] (93rd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $64,547[1] (4th) | ||||
| Gini (2005) | 25.0 2 (low) (4th) | |||||
| HDI (2006) | ▲ 0.968 (high) (1st) | |||||
| Currency | Icelandic króna (ISK) | |||||
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) | |||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .is | |||||
| Calling code | 354 | |||||
| 1 | "Statistics Iceland:Key figures". www.statice.is. 1 October 2002. http://www.statice.is/?PageID=1390. | |||||
| 2 | "CIA - The World Factbook -- Field Listing - Distribution of family income - Gini index". United States Government. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html#Govt. Retrieved on 14 September 2008. | |||||
Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (
/ˈaɪslənd/ (help·info)) (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (names of Iceland); IPA: [ˈistlant]), is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland.[2] It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km².[3] Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík.
Located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale; this defines the landscape. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude and provides a habitable environment and nature.
According to tradition recorded in Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in 874 when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island.[4] Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Celtic origin settled in Iceland. Until the twentieth century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1918 a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. In the twentieth century, Iceland's economy and welfare system developed quickly. In recent decades, Iceland has implemented free trade in the European Economic Area and diversified from fishing to new economic fields in services, finance, and various industries.
Today, Iceland has some of the world's highest levels of economic and civil freedoms.[5] In 2007, Iceland was ranked as the most developed country in the world by the United Nations' Human Development Index.[6] It was also the fourth most productive country per capita, and one of the most egalitarian, as rated by the Gini coefficient.[7][8] Icelanders have a rich culture and heritage, such as cuisine and poetry, and the medieval Icelandic Sagas are internationally renowned. Iceland is a member of the UN, NATO, EFTA, EEA and OECD. Iceland's membership of EFTA—a European trade bloc—means that it is not currently a member of the European Union. In addition to these organisations, Iceland is the sole partner of the Faroe Islands signatury to the Hoyvík Agreement.
Iceland has been hit especially hard by the current world financial crisis. The nation's ongoing economic crisis has caused significant unrest in recent months and made Iceland the first western country to borrow from the International Monetary Fund since 1976.[9] Iceland's newly established minority cabinet is headed by the world's first openly gay head of government of the modern era. [10][11]