Iceland

• temperate;
• moderated by North Atlantic Current;
• mild, windy winters;
• damp, cool summers

agricultural land:

18.7%;

• arable land 1.2%;
• permanent crops 0%;
• permanent pasture 17.5%

forest:

0.3%

other:

81% (2011 est.)

total:

0.17 cu km/yr (49%/8%/42%)

per capita:

539.2 cu m/yr (2005)

party to:

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Transboundary Air Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation

• strategic location between Greenland and Europe;
• westernmost European country;
• Reykjavik is the northernmost national capital in the world;
• more land covered by glaciers than in all of continental Europe

noun:

Icelander(s)

adjective:

Icelandic

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.87 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Iceland

conventional short form:

Iceland

local long form:

Lydveldid Island

local short form:

Island

name:

Reykjavik

geographic coordinates:

64 09 N, 21 57 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 1 December 1918 (became a sovereign state under the Danish Crown);
• 17 June 1944 (from Denmark; birthday of Jon SIGURDSSON leader of Iceland's 19th Century independence movement)

• several previous;
• latest ratified 16 June 1944, effective 17 June 1944 (at independence);
• amended many times, last in 2013;
• note - a new constitution drafted in 2012 in the aftermath of the country's banking collapse was voted down in April 2013 by the recently elected parliament, though several amendments were passed (2013)

chief of state:

President Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON (since 1 August 1996)

head of government:

Prime Minister Sigmundur David GUNNLAUGSSON (since 23 May 2013)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 30 June 2012 (next to be held in June 2016);
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition becomes prime minister

election results:

• Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON elected president;
• percent of vote - Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON (independent) 52.8%, Thora ARNORSDOTTIR (independent) 33.2%, Ari Trausti GUDMUNDSSON (independent) 8.6%, other 5.4%

description:

unicameral Althingi (parliament) (63 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 27 April 2013 (next to be held in 2017)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - SDA 30.16%, IP 25.4%, LGM 17.46%, PP 14.29%, BF 3.18%, Dawn 3.18%, Rainbow 3.18%, Pirate Party 1.59%, Solidarity 1.59%;
• seats by party - SDA 19, IP 16, LGM 11, PP 9, BF 2, Dawn 2, Rainbow 2, Pirate Party 1, Solidarity 1

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Haestirettur (consists of 9 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

judges proposed by Ministry of Interior selection committee and appointed by the president; judges appointed for an indefinite period

subordinate courts:

8 district courts; Labor Court

• Bright Future (Bjort Framtid) or BF [Gudmundur STEINGRIMSSON]
• Dawn (Dogun) [Benedikt SIGURDARSON]
• Independence Party (Sjalfstaedisflokkurinn) or IP [Bjarni BENEDIKTSSON]
• Left-Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin) or LGM [Katrin JAKOBSDOTTIR]
• Pirate Party [Birgitta JONSDOTTIR]
• Progressive Party (Framsoknarflokkurinn) or PP [Sigmundur David GUNNLAUGSSON]
• Rainbow [Bjarni HAROARSON]; note - party was created to last for the 2013 election only
• Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) or SDA [Arni Pall ARNASON]
• Solidarity (Samstada) [Lilja MOSESDOTTIR]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Geir Hilmar HAARDE (since 23 February 2015)

chancery:

House of Sweden, 2900 K Street NW

telephone:

[1] (202) 265-6653

FAX:

[1] (202) 265-6656

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert C. BARBER (since 8 January 2015)

embassy:

Laufasvegur 21, 101 Reykjavik

mailing address:

US Department of State, 5640 Reykjavik Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-5640

telephone:

[354] 595-22 00

FAX:

[354] 562-9118

• blue with a red cross outlined in white extending to the edges of the flag;
• the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag);
• the colors represent three of the elements that make up the island: red is for the island's volcanic fires, white recalls the snow and ice fields of the island, and blue is for the surrounding ocean

name:

"Lofsongur" (Song of Praise)

lyrics/music:

Matthias JOCHUMSSON/Sveinbjorn SVEINBJORNSSON

note: adopted 1944; also known as "O, Gud vors lands" (O, God of Our Land), the anthem was originally written and performed in 1874

• potatoes, green vegetables;
• mutton, chicken, pork, beef, dairy products;
• fish

• fish processing;
• aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production;
• geothermal power, hydropower, tourism

agriculture:

4.8%

industry:

22.2%

services:

73% (2008)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

telecommunications infrastructure is modern and fully digitized, with satellite-earth stations, fiber-optic cables, and an extensive broadband network

domestic:

liberalization of the telecommunications sector beginning in the late 1990s has led to increased competition especially in the mobile services segment of the market

international:

• country code - 354;
• the CANTAT-3 and FARICE-1 submarine cable systems provide connectivity to Canada, the Faroe Islands, UK, Denmark, and Germany;
• a planned new section of the Hibernia-Atlantic submarine cable will provide additional connectivity to Canada, US, and Ireland;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions);
• note - Iceland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) (2011)

• state-owned public TV broadcaster operates 1 TV channel nationally;
• several privately owned TV stations broadcast nationally and roughly another half-dozen operate locally;
• about one-half the households utilize multi-channel cable or satellite TV services;
• state-owned public radio broadcaster operates 2 national networks and 4 regional stations;
• 2 privately owned radio stations operate nationally and another 15 provide more limited coverage (2007)

total:

12,890 km

paved/oiled gravel:

4,782 km (excludes urban roads)

unpaved:

8,108 km (2012)

country comparison to the world: 126

total:

2

by type:

passenger/cargo 2

registered in other countries:

19 (Antigua and Barbuda 10, Belize 1, Faroe Islands 4, Finland 1, Gibraltar 1, Norway 2) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 141

• no regular military forces;
• Icelandic National Police;
• Icelandic Coast Guard (2013)

males age 16-49:

62,781

females age 16-49:

61,511 (2010 est.)

male:

2,277

female:

2,200 (2010 est.)

• Iceland is the only NATO member that has no standing military force;
• all US military forces in Iceland were withdrawn as of October 2006;
• defense of Iceland remains a NATO commitment and NATO maintains an air policing presence in Icelandic airspace;
• Iceland participates in international peacekeeping missions with the civilian-manned Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU)

• Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm;
• the European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority filed a suit against Iceland, claiming the country violated the European Economic Area agreement in failing to pay minimum compensation to Icesave depositors