Country	Iceland
Capital	Reykjavik
Continent	Europe
Currency	Icelandic króna(ISK)
Languages	Icelandic

Locaion

Northern Europe, island between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the United Kingdom

Geographic Co ordinates

65 00 N, 18 00 W

Land Boundries

0 km

Geography - note

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

Population

308,910 (July 2010 est.)
Country comparison to the world:178

Nationality

Noun:Icelander(s)
Adjective:Icelandic

Ethnic groups

homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6%

Religions

Lutheran Church of Iceland 80.7%, Roman Catholic Church 2.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.4%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.6%, other religions 3.6%, unaffiliated 3%, other or unspecified 6.2% (2006 est.)

Languages

Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken

Country Name

Conventional long form:Republic of Iceland
Conventional short form:Iceland
Local long form:Lydveldid Island
Local short form:Island

Government Type

constitutional republic

Capital

Name:Reykjavik
Geographic coordinates: 64 09 N, 21 57 W
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions

8 regions; Austurland, Hofudhborgarsvaedhi, Nordhurland Eystra, Nordhurland Vestra, Sudhurland, Sudhurnes, Vestfirdhir, Vesturland

Independence

1 December 1918 (became a sovereign state under the Danish Crown); 17 June 1944 (from Denmark)

National Holiday

Independence Day, 17 June (1944)

Constitution

16 June 1944, effective 17 June 1944; amended many times

Legal system

civil law system based on Danish law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Chief of state:President Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON (since 1 August 1996)
Head of government:Prime Minister Johanna SIGURDARDOTTIR (since 1 February 2009);
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
(For more information visit the World Leaders website)
Elections:president, a largely ceremonial post, elected by popular vote for a four-year term (no term limits); election last held on 28 June 2004 (next to be held in June 2012); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually the prime minister
note: the presidential election of 28 June 2008 was not held because Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON had no challengers; he was sworn in on 1 August 2008
2004 election results: Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON elected president; percent of vote - Olafur Ragnar GRIMSSON 85.6%, Baldur AGUSTSSON 12.5%, Astthor MAGNUSSON 1.9%;

Legislative branch

unicameral Parliament or Althing (63 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections:last held on 25 April 2009 (next to be held in 2013)
Election results:percent of vote by party - Social Democratic Alliance 29.8%, Independence Party 23.7%, Left-Green Movement 21.7%, Progressive Party 14.8%, Citizens' Movement 7.2%, other 2.8%; seats by party - Social Democratic Alliance 20, Independence Party 16, Left-Green Alliance 14, Progressive Party 9, Citizens' Movement 4
note: the Citizens' Movement disintegrated in September 2009; three of its former MPs are now represented under the banner of The Movement and the fourth former MP is an independent

Judicial branch

Supreme Court or Haestirettur (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice); eight district courts (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice)

Political Parties and Leaders

Independence Party or IP [Bjarni BENEDIKTSSON, Jr.]; Left-Green Movement or LGM [Steingrimur SIGFUSSON]; Progressive Party or PP [Sigmundur David GUNNLAUGSSON]; Social Democratic Alliance or SDA [Johanna SIGURDARDOTTIR]; The Movement [Birgitta JONSDOTTIR]

International organization participation

Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US

Chief of mission: Ambassador Hjalmar W. HANNESSON
Chancery: House of Sweden, 2900 K Street NW #509, Washington, DC 20007
Telephone:[1] (202) 265-6653
FAX:[1] (202) 265-6656
Consulate(s) general:New York

Diplomatic representation from the US

Chief of mission:Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Samuel WATSON
Embassy:Laufasvegur 21, 101 Reykjavik
Mailing address: US Department of State, 5640 Reykjavik Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-5640
Telephone:[354] 562-9100
FAX:[354] 562-9118

Flag description

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

Video

View Larger Map

Government - Government - Iceland Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ministry of Education
Newspapers -  Iceland Review Moreover... Iceland News NewsNow: Iceland
                              Bæjarins Besta Morgunbladid Ríkisútvarpið Skessuhorn Víkur Fréttir
                              Vísir Viðskiptablaðið
Tourism -         Tourism - Iceland

Google News

This RSS feed URL is deprecatedThis RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news No, the giant Katla volcano in Iceland isn't about to erupt. - USA TODAY USA TODAY No, the giant Katla volcano in Iceland isn't about to erupt. USA TODAY Despite screaming headlines in the British tabloids and even the normally staid Sunday Times, there is no sign that Iceland's Katla volcano will erupt any time soon, scientists say. The wild headlines warned that the "Icelandic giant is about to erupt ... Icelandic volcano threatens to erupt in explosion that could 'dwarf' 2010 ash cloudWalesOnline Katla eruption: "We're used to these kinds of news reports" - Iceland ...Iceland Monitor Geophysical Research Letters - Wiley Online LibraryWiley Online Library Evening Standard -NASA Earth Observatory -Person detail: Earth and Environment - University of Leeds all 44 news articles » Iceland Found Another Way to Clean Up a Financial Crisis - Bloomberg Bloomberg Iceland Found Another Way to Clean Up a Financial Crisis Bloomberg While flying last week to a conference in Reykjavík, it dawned on me that I knew almost nothing about Iceland. What little understanding I had was based on Michael Lewis' epic tale of the nation's financial collapse in Vanity Fair magazine entitled ... Iceland Found Another Way to Clean Up a Financial Crisis By ...Investing.com all 5 news articles » Experts warn Icelandic volcano threatening to erupt would 'dwarf' 2010 ash cloud - ChronicleLive ChronicleLive Experts warn Icelandic volcano threatening to erupt would 'dwarf' 2010 ash cloud ChronicleLive Experts have warned the eruption of a huge volcano in Iceland - which could erupt at any time - could dwarf the ash cloud chaos that affected European airports eight years ago. Carbon monoxide has started to emit from the volcano located in southern ... Huge Icelandic volcano threatens to erupt in explosion that could 'dwarf' 2010 ash cloudCoventry Live Icelandic volcano poised to erupt could be 'three times worse' than 2010 ash cloudDaily Post North Wales Icelandic volcano 'could erupt at any moment' and ash cloud 'would dwarf' 2010 scenesGloucestershire Live Bristol Live all 6 news articles » WOW Air Has Cheap Flights to Iceland to See the Northern Lights Starting at $99 - Travel+Leisure Travel+Leisure WOW Air Has Cheap Flights to Iceland to See the Northern Lights Starting at $99 Travel+Leisure WOW Air is offering affordable flights to go see the aurora borealis up close and personal, starting at $99 one-way. The budget airline has cheap flights to Reykjavik, Iceland, out of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City ... Changing Climate in Iceland - nshoremag.com nshoremag.com Changing Climate in Iceland nshoremag.com Bees buzz among yellow flowers alongside the hiking trail leading to the Skaftafellsjökull glacier, located in a huge national park in southeastern Iceland. The glacier is visible a couple hundred yards ahead of us, beyond a small black lagoon left ... Places to Go: Nowhere makes you feel small quite like Iceland - Ubyssey Online Ubyssey Online Places to Go: Nowhere makes you feel small quite like Iceland Ubyssey Online I don't know what I was expecting of Iceland, but I certainly wasn't prepared to step off the plane onto another planet. Iceland's landscape is completely foreign, like it could be a film set: vast fields of black volcanic silt as far as the eye can ... Follow Me: Hiking in an Icelandic volcanoRuidoso News all 3 news articles » Increase in work permits to Filipinos in Iceland - Iceland Monitor Iceland Monitor Increase in work permits to Filipinos in Iceland Iceland Monitor Foreign nationals from countries outside the EEA who have received work permits due to their field of expertise are on the increase in Iceland. Between 2012 and 2017 temporary work permits for jobs requiring expertise amounted to 16 percent of all new ... Storms today in South Iceland - Iceland Monitor Iceland Monitor Storms today in South Iceland Iceland Monitor Today there is heavy rain and strong wind in South Iceland and the capital area and people are advised to clear drains to prevent flooding. The wind picks up again with 13-20 m/s tonight and there is more rain tomorrow in South Iceland including Reykjavik. Iceland volcano: Could Katla erupt and will another ash cloud disrupt European flights? - The Independent The Independent Iceland volcano: Could Katla erupt and will another ash cloud disrupt European flights? The Independent A huge volcano in southern Iceland is belching higher quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere than previously thought, prompting scientists to warn it could be about to erupt. Should Katla do so, it has the potential to dwarf the impact ... Iceland volcano eruption: Where is Katla? How is a volcano formed? What you need to knowEvening Standard ICELAND PREPARES TO BECOME GASLANDDaily Telegraph (blog) Europe volcano eruption: Scientists keep 'close eye' on Iceland volcano after blast fearsExpress.co.uk 9news.com.au -iNews -NEWS.com.au -Evening Standard all 109 news articles » Northern Lights remain extremely popular with tourists to Iceland - Iceland Monitor Iceland Monitor Northern Lights remain extremely popular with tourists to Iceland Iceland Monitor Garðarson says that the Northern Lights winter season (September until April) remains very popular with tourists and that it's one of the most important factors of winter tourism in Iceland. Tourists do, however, stop for a shorter period of time in ...