Introduction |
Facts |
Flag |
History |
Culture |
Geography |
Currency |
Economy |
Demographics |
Language |
Iceland is a volcanic island, which is situated in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Force Islands. Reykjavik is a capital as well as the largest city of Iceland. Iceland became a charter member of NATO in 1949 and signed a treaty with the United States in 1951. Iceland is a member of the Common market of the European Union through the EEA agreement but has never applied for membership of the EU itself.
| Country Name : | Iceland |
| Capital : | Reykjavik |
| Largest City : | Reykjavik |
| Official Language : | Icelandic |
| Government : | Constitutional Republic |
| President : | Olafur Ragnar Grimsson |
| Prime Minister : | Geir Hilmar Haarde |
| Area : | 103,000 kmē |
| Area Rank : | 107th |
| Population : | 297,139 |
| Population Rank : | 178th |
| Density : | 2.89/kmē |
| Density Rank : | 188th |
| GDP Total : | $10.531 billion |
| GDP Total Rank : | 135th |
| GDP per Capita : | $35,586 |
| GDP per Capita Rank : | 5th |
| Currency : | Icelandic krona |
| Time Zone : | GMT (UTC+0) |
| Internet TLD : | .is |
| Calling Code : | +354 |
| Geographic Coordinates : | 65 00 N, 18 00 W |
| Railways : | N/A |
| Highways : | 13,028 km |
| Waterways : | N/A |
| Internet Users : | 225,000 |
| Radio Users : | 260,000 |
| Mobile Users : | 290,100 |
| Telephone Users : | 190,500 |
| Population Growth : | 0.87% |
| Birth Rate : | 13.64 births/1,000 |
| Death Rate : | 6.72 deaths/1,000 |
| Airport : | 97 |
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).
Island was founded and established by some immigrants from Scandinavia, Gaels from Ireland and Scotland and Picts during the 9th and 10th centuries. According to the Islendinabok, the Norwegian Inglfur Arnarson was the first man settle in Iceland in 870. Servants and slaves accompanied the families; some of who were Celts or Picts. According to some literary evidence, Irish monks may have been living in Iceland before the arrival of Norse settlers.
Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland in 980 and set soil to explore the lands to the west. He established the first settlements in Greenland around this time naming the land, according to legend, to attract settlers. Erik's son, Leifur Einksson finally set foot in the Americas around the year 1000. He is believed to have established a colony at L'Anse anx Meadows in Newfoundland. Two further attempts at colonization by his brother ended in failure.
The general assembly called the Alpingi was established in 930, marking the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth.
Iceland was a free state until the end of the Starlungoold civil war in 1262. But after that it joined the Norwegian kingdom. From 1387, Iceland was under the rule of Denmark. When that union was dissolved in 1814, through the Treaty of Kiel, Iceland became a Danish colony. The Danish government in 1904 granted home rule and Iceland became independent from Denmark from 1st December 1918. The Danish king remained the de jure sovereign of the nation until 1944, when the present republic was formed.
The new republic became a charter member of NATO in 1949 and signed a treaty with the United States in 1951.
Today, Iceland is a member of the Common market of the European Union through the EEA agreement but it is not a member of EU.
Education: - Education is free and compulsory in Iceland for all children between the ages of 6 and 16. Iceland's literacy rate is 100%. The leading institution of higher education is the University of Iceland, which is situated in the capital. Iceland has many different educational institutions like technical college, agricultural colleges, and music and teacher training schools.
Literature: - In Iceland, the literature was produced during the 12th and 13th centuries. The most famous Icelandic writings of this period are the sagas. Modern Icelandic writers have produced a subs tantiol body of literature. The Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1955. Laxness adapted the lyrical beauty of the Old Icelandic sagas to modern use in his novels about the people of Iceland.
We can say that Icelanders are book-warms because the people of Iceland read more books per capita than the people of any other country.
Art: - Icelanders are well known for their woodcarving, silversmith, sculpturing in stone for church decoration folk arts found expression in woodcarvings and textiles.
Music: - Choral singing of church was an outstanding example of Iceland's music. More over, Icelanders mostly like Choir singing. Iceland's folk music inspire by modern music such as vibrant pop and rock genres. Rock bank The Sugarcubes and its singer Bjork, rap-rock group Quarashi, artist collective Gus-Gus, avant-garde rock band Singer Ros are outstanding examples of Iceland's music.
Location: - Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
Area: - The total area of Iceland is about 1,03,000 sq km. Iceland is the world's 18th largest island and Europe's 2nd largest island after Great Britain.
Landscape: - About 10% of the island is glaciated. In other words, approximately 4,603 sq. miles of the island is glaciated. It has about 3,088 miles long coastline the Highlands of Iceland is a cold and uninhabitable desert.
Population: - According to the 2006 estimate the total population of Iceland is about 2,97,139. Its population density is about 7.46 persons per sq. meter.
Lakes: - Iceland has many lakes, which cover about 1,065 square miles of the land. Among them Porisvatn, Pingvallavatn, Logurinn, My vatn, Hvitarvatn, Hop and Langisjor are largest lakes of Iceland while Oskjuvatn, Hvalvatn, Jkulsarlon in Breioamerkursandur, Kleifarvatn are deepest lakes of Iceland.
National Parks:
Iceland has four national parks:
Jokulsargljufar National Park
Skaftafell National Park
Snaefellsnes National Park
Pingvellier National Park
Regions: - Iceland has eight regions.
Volcanoes: - Iceland is situated on both a geological hot spot thought to because by a mantle plume and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This combined location means that the island is extremely geologically active, having many volcanoes, notably Helka and geysers.
Capital: - Reykjavik is a capital as well as the largest city of Iceland.
| 1.00 - (Iceland ) | = | USD - (United States Dollars) |
| 1.00 USD - (United States Dollars) | = | - (Iceland ) |
| Unit | Currency Name | ISK/Unit | Unit/ISK |
Economic Status: - Iceland is among the ten richest countries in the world based on GDP per capita at purchasing power parity.
Income Resources: - The economy strongly dependent on the fishing industry, which still contributes more than 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. Iceland's economy is vulnerable to changing world fish prices. The economy remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to drops in world prices, for its main material exports such as fish and fish products, aluminum and ferrosilicon. Though, economy of Iceland still more dependent on fishing, but it is constantly becoming less important as the travel industry and other service industries, the technology industry, every intensive industry and various other industries grow.
Future Plans of the government: - The government of Iceland plans to continue its policies of reducing the budget and current account deficits, limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, changing the economy and privatizing state owned industries.
Achievements: - 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 whole watching.
The economy expanded by 4.3% in 2003 and grew by 6.2% in 2004. The unemployment rate is 1.8%, which is the lowest in the European countries. Hydropower and geothermal energy produced electricity.
GDP: - According to the 2005 estimate, Iceland's total GDP was approximately $10,53 billion and its per capita GDP was about $35,586.
Currency: - Icelandic Krona is a currency of Iceland.
Population: - Icelanders are one of the most homogenous peoples in the world. They are predominantly of Nordic origin, descendants of the hardly people, who emigrated from Norway to Iceland in the Middle Ages. There are also some Celtic influences from Irish and Scottish immigrants, who came from the British Isles.
According to the 2006 estimate, the total population of Iceland is about 2,97,139 and its population density is about 7.46 persons per sq. meter. Due to epidemics, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes, Iceland lost most of its population.
Religion: - The constitution of Iceland gives freedom of religion. Though, church and state are not separated and the Church of Iceland, a Lutheran church is the state church. According to the statistics, 85.5% of the population are members of the Church of Iceland, 3.6% of the population are members of the free Lutheran Churches of Reykjavik and Hafnarfjorour, 2.4% are not member or follower of any religious group and 2% of the population are members of the Catholic Church. The remaining 6.5% is mostly divided between a number of other Christian denominations and sects, with less than 1% of thee population in non-Christian religious organizations.
Icelandic is the official language of Iceland that is a North Germanic langue. Important foreign languages include Danish and other Scandinavian languages, English and German. Polish is more important among the exotic languages.
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