Iceland

For other uses, see the country in Europe.

Republic of Iceland Lýðveldið Ísland
Flag Coat of arms of Iceland Coat of arms
Anthem: Lofsöngur
Location of Iceland (orange) in Europe (white)
Capital and largest city	Reykjavík
Official languages	Icelandic (de facto)
Government	Constitutional republic
• President	Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
• Prime Minister	Geir H. Haarde
Independence  from Denmark
• Home rule	1 February 1904
• Sovereignty	1 December 1918
• Republic	17 June 1944
• Water (%)	2.7
Population
• April 2007 estimate	309,6991 (181st)
• December 1980 census	229,187
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$10.531 billion (135th)
• Per capita	$35,586 (2005) (5th)
GDP (nominal)	2005 estimate
• Total	$15.823 billion (90th)
• Per capita	$52,764 (5th)
HDI (2004)	0.960  (2nd)
Currency	Icelandic króna (ISK)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	not observed
Calling code	354
ISO 3166 code	IS
Internet TLD	.is
"Statistics Iceland". www.statice.is. 1 December 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ([Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); IPA: [ˈliðvɛltɪð ˈislant]) is a country of northwestern Europe, comprising the island of Iceland and its outlying islets in the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. As of April 2007, it had a population of 309,699. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík.

Due to its location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is very volcanically and geologically active; this identifies the landscape in various ways. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers stream to sea through the lowlands. Due to the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude, which provides habitable environment and nature.

Iceland has a history of habitation since about the year 874 when, according to Landnámabók, the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland. Until the twentieth century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture, and was from 1262 to 1944 a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. In the 20th century, Iceland's economy and welfare system developed quickly.

Today, Iceland is a developed country, the world's fifth and second in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and human development respectively. It is based upon a free market economy where service, finance, fishing and various industries are the main sectors. Tourism is popular, as many people are attracted to Iceland's exotic scenery. Iceland is a member of the UN, NATO, EEA, and OECD.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative and electoral divisions of Iceland

Iceland is divided into regions, constituencies, counties, and municipalities. There are eight regions which are primarily used for statistical purposes; the district court jurisdictions also use an older version of this division. 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:

• Reykjavík North and Reykjavík South (city regions);
• Southwest (three suburb areas around Reykjavík);
• Northwest and Northeast (north half of Iceland, split); and,
• South (south half of Iceland, excluding Reykjavík and suburbs).

The redistricting 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 still exists.

Iceland's twenty-three counties are, for the most part, historical divisions. Currently, Iceland is split up among twenty-six magistrates that represent government in various capacities. Among their duties are running the local police (except in Reykjavík, where there is a special office of police commissioner), tax collection, administering bankruptcy declarations, and performing civil marriages.

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

• Regions of Iceland
  Regions of Iceland
• 
  Constituencies of Iceland
• Counties of Iceland
  Counties of Iceland
• Municipalities of Iceland
  Municipalities of Iceland

Cities and towns

Main article: List of settlements in Iceland

The capital of Iceland is Reykjavík, and is home to the majority of the island’s population. Other significant population centres include Akureyri, Hafnarfjörður, Keflavík and Kópavogur.

Geography

File:Iceland CIA map trim.gif

CIA Factbook map of Iceland (magnified).

File:Nasaicelandimage.jpg

Iceland, as seen from space on January 29, 2004. Source: NASA

Main articles: Geography of Iceland and List of settlements in Iceland

Location and topography

Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of North America, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents. Because of cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's eighteenth-largest island, and Europe's second largest island following Great Britain.

Approximately eleven percent of the island is glaciated. Many fjords punctuate its 4,970 kilometre (3,088 mi) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the international airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.

The only native land mammal when humans arrived was the arctic fox. It came to the island at the end of the ice age, walking over the frozen sea. There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the island. There are around 1,300 known species of insects in Iceland, which is rather low compared with other countries (there are about 925,000 known species in the world). During the last Ice Age almost all of the country was covered by permanent snow and glacier ice. This explains the low number of living species in Iceland.

When humans arrived, birch forest and woodland probably covered 25-40% of Iceland’s land area, but soon the settlers started to remove the trees and forests to create fields and grazing land. During the early twentieth century the forests were at their minimum and were almost wiped out of existence. The planting of new forests has increased the number of trees since, but this can not be compared with the original forests. Some of those planted forests have included new foreign species.

Iceland has four national parks: Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Skaftafell National Park, Snæfellsjökull National Park, and Þingvellir National Park.

Area

• Whole country: 103,000 km² (39,768.5 sq mi)
• Vegetation: 23,805 km² (9,191 sq mi)
• Lakes: 2,757 km² (1,065 sq mi)
• Glaciers: 11,922 km² (4,603 sq mi)
• Wasteland: 64,538 km² (24,918 sq mi)

Geological and volcanic activity

The volcanic lake of Grímsvötn on the glacier of Vatnajökull.

Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe, is located in northeastern Iceland.

A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both a geological hot spot, thought to be caused by a mantle plume, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it. This combined location means that geologically the island is extremely active, having many volcanoes, notably Hekla, Eldgjá, and Eldfell. The volcanic eruption of Laki in 1783-1784 caused a famine that killed nearly a quarter of the island's population; the eruption caused dust clouds and haze to appear over most of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa for several months after the eruption.

There are also geysers (a word derived from the name of one in Iceland, Geysir). With this widespread availability of geothermal power, and also because of the numerous rivers and waterfalls that are harnessed for hydro power, residents of most towns have hot water and home heat for a low price. The island itself is composed primarily of basalt, a low-silica lava associated with effusive volcanism like Hawaii. There are, however, a variety of volcano-types on Iceland that produce more evolved lavas such as rhyolite and andesite.

Iceland controls Surtsey, one of the youngest islands in the world. It rose above the ocean in a series of volcanic eruptions between November 8, 1963 and June 5, 1968.

Largest lakes

• Þórisvatn (Reservoir): 83-88 km² (32-34 sq mi)
• Þingvallavatn: 82 km² (32 sq mi)
• Lögurinn: 53 km² (21 sq mi)
• Mývatn: 37 km² (14 sq mi)
• Hvítárvatn: 30 km² (12 sq mi)
• Hóp: 30 km² (12 mi²)
• Langisjór: 11.6 km² (4.5 sq mi)

Deepest lakes

• Öskjuvatn: 220 m (722 ft)
• Hvalvatn: 160 m (525 ft)
• Jökulsárlón: 150 m (492 ft)
• Þingvallavatn: 114 m (374 ft)
• Þórisvatn (Reservoir): 113 m (371 ft)
• Lögurinn: 112 m (367 ft)
• Kleifarvatn: 97 m (318 ft)
• Hvítárvatn: 84 m (276 ft)
• Langisjór: 75 m (246 ft)

Distance to nearest countries and islands

• Greenland: 287 km (178 mi)
• Faroe Islands: 420 km (261 mi)
• Jan Mayen (Norway): 550 km (342 mi)
• Scotland: 798 km (496 mi)
• Norway (mainland): 970 km (603 mi)
• Ireland: 1480 km (920 mi)

Climate

File:Img 2678.jpg

Strokkur, a geyser in the process of erupting. Lying on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is one of the most geologically active areas on Earth.

The climate of Iceland's coast is cold oceanic. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures generally higher temperatures than in most places of similar latitude in the world. The winters are mild and windy while the summers are damp and cool. Regions in the world with similar climate are: Aleutian Islands, Alaska Peninsula and Tierra del Fuego.

There are some variations in the climate between different parts of the island. Very generally speaking, the south coast is warmer, wetter and windier than the north. Low lying inland areas in the north are the most arid. Snowfall in winters is more common in the north than the south. The Central Highlands are the coldest part of the country.

The highest air temperature recorded was 30.5°C (86.9°F) on 22 June 1939 at Teigarhorn on the southeastern coast. The lowest temperature was -38°C (-36.4°F) on 22 January 1918 at Grímsstaðir and Möðrudalur in the interior of northeast. The temperature records for Reykjavík are 24.8°C (76.6°F) on 11 August 2004, and -24.5°C (-12.1°F) on 21 January 1918.

Mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures (°C) (1961–1990)

Location	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec		All
Reykjavík	1.9	2.8	3.2	5.7	9.4	11.7	13.3	13.0	10.1	6.8	3.4	2.2	High	7.0
	-3.0	-2.1	-2.0	0.4	3.6	6.7	8.3	7.9	5.0	2.2	-1.3	-2.8	Low	1.9
Akureyri	0.9	1.7	2.1	5.4	9.5	13.2	14.5	13.9	9.9	5.9	2.6	1.3	High	6.7
	-5.5	-4.7	-4.2	-1.5	2.3	6.0	7.5	7.1	3.5	0.4	-3.5	-5.1	Low	0.2

Animal and plant life

Icelandic sheep

Iceland has very few mineral or agricultural resources. The short time since the last ice age, only about 10 000 years, has provided very little time for plants and animals to immigrate from elsewhere or evolve locally. Approximately three-quarters of the island is barren of vegetation, and plant life consists mainly of grassland which is regularly grazed by livestock. The only native tree in Iceland is the northern birch Betula pubescens.

The initiation of permanent human settlement caused great disturbance to an isolated ecosystem with thin, volcanic soils and limited species diversity. The forests were heavily exploited over the centuries for firewood and timber. Deforestation resulted in a loss of critical top soil due to erosion, greatly reducing the ability of the birches to regrow. Today, only a few small birch stands can be found in isolated drainages.

The animals of Iceland are mainly agricultural and include Icelandic sheep, cattle, and the sturdy Icelandic horse. Many varieties of fish live in the ocean waters surrounding Iceland, and the fishing industry is a main contributor to Iceland’s economy, accounting for more than half of Iceland’s total exports. Wild mammals include the arctic fox, mink, mice, rats, rabbits and reindeer. Before and around the 1900's polar bears would sometimes visit the island, traveling with sea ice from Greenland. Birds are also a very important part of Iceland's animal life. Most of these are sea birds. Puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes all nest on Iceland's sea cliffs.

History

Main article: History of Iceland

A 19th century depiction of a meeting of the Alþingi at Þingvellir.

Although there is some evidence indicating the early presence of Irish monks, it is generally believed that Iceland was found and settled by Norse explorers in the second half of the 9th century AD. Of these, the first was Ingólfur Arnarson, who built his homestead in Reykjavík, which is now the capital of modern day Iceland. Ingólfur was followed by many other emigrant settlers, largely Norsemen and their Irish slaves. By 930, most arable land had been claimed and the Althing, a legislative and judiciary parliament, was founded as the political hub of the Icelandic Free State. Christianity was peacefully adopted in 1000. The Free State lasted until 1262, at which point the political system devised by the original settlers proved unable to cope with the increasing consolidation of power amongst the Icelandic chieftains. The internal struggles and civil strife of the Sturlung Era led to the signing of Old Covenant, which brought Iceland under the Norwegian crown. Possession of Iceland passed to Denmark-Norway in the late 14th century when the two kingdoms of Norway and Denmark were united via the Kalmar Union. In the ensuing centuries, Iceland became one of the poorest countries in Europe. Infertile soil, volcanic eruptions and an unforgiving climate made for harsh life in a society whose subsistence depended almost entirely on agriculture.

Around the middle of the 16th century, King Christian III of Denmark began to impose Lutheranism on all his subjects. The last Catholic bishop in Iceland was beheaded in 1550, after which the country became fully Lutheran. Lutheranism has remained the dominant religion ever since.

In 1814, following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the Treaty of Kiel. Iceland, however, remained a Danish dependency. The country's climate worsened during the 19th century, leading to mass emigrations to North America, largely Canada. Meanwhile, a new independence movement arose under the leadership of Jón Sigurðsson, inspired by the romantic and nationalist ideologies of mainland Europe.

In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which was expanded in 1904. The Act of Union, an agreement with Denmark made on December 1, 1918, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king.

During World War II, German occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940 severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. A month later, British military forces sailed into Reykjavík harbour, violating Icelandic neutrality. This marked the beginning of the invasion and occupation of Iceland by Allied forces which would last throughout the war. In the summer of 1941, the British left and the occupation was taken over by the United States army. With American assistance, following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944. The occupation force left in 1946. Iceland became a member of NATO on March 30, 1949, amidst domestic controversy and riots. Some two years later, on May 5 1951, a defense agreement was signed with the United States -- American troops returned and stayed as part of the defense agreement throughout the Cold War and until the autumn of 2006.

The immediate post-war period was followed by substantial economic growth, driven by Marshall aid, the industrialization of the fishing industry and Keynesian government management of the economy. The 1970s were marked by the Cod Wars -- several disputes with the United Kingdom over Iceland's extension of its fishing limits. The economy was greatly diversified and liberalised from the mid-1990s following Iceland's joining of the European Economic Area in 1994.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Iceland

The original population of Iceland was of Nordic and Celtic origin. This is evident by literary evidence from the settlement period as well as from later scientific studies such as blood type and genetic analysis. One such genetics study has indicated that the majority of the male settlers were of Nordic origin while the majority of the women were of Celtic origin. The modern population of Iceland is often described as a "homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts" but some history scholars reject the alleged homogeneity as a myth that fails to take into account the fact that Iceland was never completely isolated from the rest of Europe and actually has had a lot of contact with traders and fishermen from many nations through the ages.

Iceland has extensive genealogical records about its population dating back to the Age of Settlement. Although the accuracy of these records is debated, biopharmaceutical companies such as deCODE Genetics see them as a valuable tool for conducting research on genetic diseases.

The population of the island is believed to have varied from 40,000 to 60,000 in the period from initial settlement until the mid-19th century. During that time, cold winters, ashfall from volcanic eruptions, and plagues adversely affected the population several times. The first census was carried out in 1703 and revealed that the population of the island was then 50,358. Improving living conditions triggered a rapid increase in population from the mid-19th century to the present day - from about 60,000 in 1850 to 310,000 in 2006.

In 2004, 20,669 people (7% of the total population) who were living in Iceland had been born abroad, including children of Icelandic parents living abroad. 10,636 people (3.6% of the total population) had foreign citizenship. The most populous nationalities are Poles (7,000), Danes (890), ex-Yugoslavians (670), Filipinos (647) and Germans (540).

The island's spoken language is Icelandic, a North Germanic language. In terms of etymology, the Icelandic language is the closest to Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. Today, the closest language still in existence to Icelandic is Faroese. In education, the use of Icelandic Sign Language for the Deaf in Iceland is regulated by the National Curriculum Guide. The predominant religion is Lutheran.

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

The southwest corner of Iceland is the most densely populated region and the location of the capital Reykjavík, the northernmost capital in the world. The largest towns outside the capital region are Akureyri and Reykjanesbær.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Iceland

The House of Parliament in Reykjavík

The modern parliament, called "Alþingi" (English: 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 currently has sixty-three 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, but who can also block a law voted by the parliament and put it to a national referendum.

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 Björnsson, 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 Björnsson 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. Iceland had elected the first female president ever, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in 1980 and she retired from office in 1996. Elections for the office of town councils, parliament and presidency are all held every four years. The next elections are going to be held in 2010, 2011 and 2008, respectively.

Following the May 2007 parliamentary elections, the current government is a coalition between the right wing Independence Party and the social democratic Alliance under the Prime Ministe Geir Haarde of the Independence Party. The government enjoys a vast majority in Althing, 43 out of 63 members supporting it.

Military

File:Icelandic troops.jpg

Two Icelandic sergeants of the ICRU, the only Icelandic military force sent to the International Security Assistance Force, are having a discussion with General Richards, commander of ISAF peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

Main article: Military of Iceland

Iceland is a NATO member, and although it has no standing army, it maintains an expeditionary military peacekeeping unit known as the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit or Íslenska Friðargæslan.

Iceland has a Coast Guard (Landhelgisgæslan) which operates armed Offshore Patrol Vessels as well as aircraft and a counter-terrorism team named Sérsveit Ríkislögreglustjóra (English: "The Special Operations Task Force of the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police"), commonly referred to as Víkingasveitin (The Viking Team or Viking Squad) similar to the German GSG 9 and has approximately 55 members. The Icelandic National Police consists of over 700 officers and unpaid volunteer Rescue and Civil Defence Units have more than 4,000 active members and have overall 18,000 registered members

From 1951 until 2006 military defence was provided by a predominantly United States-manned force in the NATO base on Miðnesheiði near Keflavík.[1] This base, which the Americans called the Naval Air Station Keflavik and located at the Keflavik International Airport, is now in the hands of the Sheriff of Keflavík Airport. An air defence radar network, known as the Iceland Air Defence System (IADS) or Íslenska Loftvarnarkerfið is operated by Ratsjárstofnun.

On April 24, 2007, an agreement between Iceland and Norway was announced that would enhance the cooperation between the countries in matters of security and defence. Norway does however not assume any responsibility for the defence of Iceland during wartime. The United States and NATO would then shoulder the responsibility.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iceland

Iceland is the fifth most productive country in the world based on GDP per capita at purchasing power parity. It is also ranked second on the 2006 United Nations Human Development Index. Renewable energy in Iceland provides over 70% of the nation's primary energy and the country expects to be energy-independent by 2050. With the exception of abundant hydro-electric and geothermal power, Iceland lacks natural resources and the economy historically depended heavily on the fishing industry, which still provides almost 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. The economy is vulnerable to changing world fish prices and sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminium, and ferrosilicon. Although the Icelandic economy still relies heavily on fishing it is increasingly becoming less important as the travel industry and other service, technology, energy intensive and various other industries grow.

The Ring Road of Iceland and some towns it passes through.

1.Reykjavík, 2.Borgarnes, 3.Blönduós, 4.Akureyri,
5.Egilsstaðir, 6.Höfn, 7.Selfoss

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 6.2% in 2004. The unemployment rate of 1.3% (2006 est.) is among the lowest in the European Economic Area.

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

Iceland's agriculture industry consists mainly of potatoes, turnips, green vegetables (in greenhouses), mutton, dairy products and fish. Some are examining the possibility of introducing other crops from South America, where the potato is native. Given that summers in Iceland are not hot enough to produce some other types of food, those plants that are from the same ecological range as the potato (those from a similar climate to Iceland), may very probably be adaptable to Iceland. Those of interest include the quinoa, a pseudocereal; beach strawberry, a fruit ; calafate, a fruit; and the Monkey-puzzle araucaria, a tree that produces edible nuts. Those crops would help the country to reduce imports of food like cereals, fruits, and nuts.

Iceland's stock market, the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE), was established in 1985.

Borgartún is the name of the financial center in Reykjavik, hosting a large number of companies and three investment banks.

The primary currency of Iceland is the Icelandic Króna (ISK). 1 US Dollar is worth 63 ISK (22/5/07).

Religion

File:Reykjavik-leaf-church01.GIF

Hallgrímskirkja, Church of Hallgrímur, in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Main article: Religion in Iceland

Icelanders enjoy freedom of religion as stated by the constitution; however, church and state are not separated and the National 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 in 2005 divided into religious groups as follows:

• 82.1% members of the National Church of Iceland.
• 4.7% members of the Free Lutheran Churches of Reykjavík and Hafnarfjörður.
• 2.6% not members of any religious group.
• 2.4% members of the Roman Catholic Church, which has a Diocese of Reykjavík
• 5.5% members of unregistered religious organisations or with no specified religious affiliation

The remaining 2.7% is mostly divided between around 20-25 other Christian denominations and sects, with less than 1% of the population in non-Christian religious organisations, the largest of those being Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið, a neo-pagan group.

Culture

Cliffs at the island of Grímsey, on the Arctic Circle.

Main article: Culture of Iceland

Icelandic culture has its roots in Viking and Norse traditions. Icelandic literature is extremely popular and renowned, in particular the sagas and eddas which were written around the time of the island’s settlement. Icelanders generally have a traditional liberal Nordic outlook, similar to other Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden. Until the Christianisation of Iceland, many traditional Viking beliefs held strong, remnants of which remain today. For example, many Icelanders either believe in elves or are unwilling to rule out their existence. Iceland has an extremely high Human Development Index, and was recently ranked the fourth happiest country in the world.

Icelandic cuisine is unique. The majority of the national foods are based around fish, lamb and dairy products. Þorramatur is the national food, consisting of many different dishes; this is not consumed on a daily basis but usually around the month of Þorri. Traditional dishes include skyr, cured ram scrota, rotten shark, singed sheep heads and a sausage made from the offal of sheep.

Though changing in the past years, Icelanders remain a very healthy nation. Children and teenagers participate in various types of leisure activities. Popular sports today are mainly soccer, athletics and basketball. Sports such as golf, tennis, swimming, chess and horseback riding on Icelandic horses are also popular.

Iceland is home to Nick Jr's LazyTown (Latibær), created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a huge phenomenon with children and adults and is shown in over 98 countries, including the US, Canada, Sweden and Latin America. The LazyTown Studios are located in Garðabær. Iceland is also the home of the reasonably successful 80s and 90s band The Sugar Cubes from which very successful singer Björk hailed.

See also

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Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
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Politics

• List of political parties in Iceland
• List of Presidents of Iceland
• Prime minister of Iceland
• Foreign relations of Iceland
• Iceland and the European Union

Economy

• Whaling in Iceland
• Geothermal power in Iceland
• Icelandic hydroelectric power stations
• Hydrogen economy - Examples and pilot programs

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
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Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{col-float}}	{{col-float-break}}	{{col-float-end}}
	"columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{columns-start}}	{{column}}	{{columns-end}}
Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

External links

• Map (click on it to enlarge)
• Official Gateway of Iceland
• Daily news from Iceland in English from Iceland Review online
• The Icelandic Government's website in English
• Iceland Information
• History of Iceland: Primary Documents
• Treasures of the national library of Iceland displayed via The European Library

• Template:Wikitravel