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An island country in the North Atlantic near the Arctic Circle. Norse settlers arrived c. 850–875, and Christianity was introduced c. 1000. Iceland passed to Norway in 1262 and, with Norway, to Denmark in 1380. In 1918 it became a sovereign state still nominally under the Danish king, until Icelanders voted for full independence in 1944. Reykjavík is the capital and the largest city. Population: 293,000 .

Iceland, Icel. Ísland, officially Republic of Iceland, republic (2005 est. pop. 297,000), 39,698 sq mi (102,819 sq km), the westernmost state of Europe, occupying an island in the Atlantic Ocean just S of the Arctic Circle, c.600 mi (970 km) W of Norway and c.180 mi (290 km) SE of Greenland. The republic includes several small islands, notably the Vestmannaeyjar off the southern coast of Iceland. Reykjavík is the capital and largest city.
Land and People

Deep fjords indent the coasts of Iceland, particularly in the north and west. The island itself is a geologically young basalt plateau, averaging 2,000 ft (610 m) in height (Öraefajökull, c.6,950 ft/2,120 m high, is the highest point) and culminating in vast icefields, of which the Vatnajökull, in the southeast, is the largest. There are about 200 volcanoes, many of them still active; the highest is Mt. Hekla (c.4,900 ft/1,490 m). Hot springs abound and are used for inexpensive heating; the great Geysir is particularly famous. The watershed of Iceland runs roughly east-west; the chief river, the Jökulsá, flows N into the Axarfjörður (there are several other rivers of the same name).

The climate is relatively mild and humid (especially in the west and south), owing to the proximity of the North Atlantic Drift; however, N and E Iceland have a polar, tundralike climate. Grasses predominate; timber is virtually absent, and much of the land is barren. (Some of this is a result of human habitition, which led to deforestation and overgrazing.) Only about one fourth of the island is habitable, and practically all the larger inhabited places are located on the coast; they are Reykjavík, Akureyrí, Hafnarfjörður, Siglufjörður, Akranes, and Isafjörður.

The population, until recently largely homogeneous and isolated, is descended mainly from Norse settlers and their slaves. (This homogeneity, combined with longstanding genealogical records, has made Icelanders the subject of fruitful genetic study.) The Lutheran Church is the established church and more than 95% of the people are members of it, but there is complete religious freedom. The official language is Icelandic (Old Norse). Virtually all Icelanders are literate; they read more books per capita than any other people in the world. There is a university (est. 1911) at Reykjavík.

Economy

About 15% of the land is potentially productive, but agriculture, cultivating mainly hay, potatoes, and turnips, is restricted to 0.5% of the total area. Fruits and vegetables are raised in greenhouses. There are extensive grazing lands, used mainly for sheep raising, but also for horses and cattle. Fishing is the most important industry, accounting for 20% of the gross national product (GNP) and 75% of the country's exports. Aside from aluminum smelting and ferrosilicon production, Iceland has little heavy industry and relies on imports for many of the necessities and luxuries of life. More than half of Iceland's GNP comes from the communications, trade, and service industries. Tourism is also important. Most trade is with the United Kingdom, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and the United States. In 1990, Iceland's per capita national income was higher than the average for Europe. The country experienced a recession from the late 1980s into the early 1990s, as fish stocks dwindled and world prices for fish and aluminum dropped. However, the economy stabilized in the 1990s and the government continued its policies of diversifying the economy and expanding hydroelectric and geothermal energy resources, thus reducing dependence on oil imports.

Government

Iceland is a parliamentary democracy governed under the constitution of 1944. It has a cabinet responsible to the unicameral parliament (the Althing) and a president elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The four major parties are the Independence, the Progressive, the Social Democratic, and the People's Alliance. Iceland is divided into 23 counties.

The republic possesses neither an army nor a navy. The government plays a major part in the economic life of the country and has established monopolies on the import and sale of several important articles. Social welfare legislation is extensive.

History

Settlement and Subjection

Iceland may be the Ultima Thule of the ancients. Irish monks visited it before the 9th cent., but abandoned it on the arrival (c.850–875) of Norse settlers, many of whom had fled from the domination of Harold I. The Norse settlements also contained many Irish and Scottish slaves, mainly women. In 930 a general assembly, the Althing, was established near Reykjavík at Thingvellir, and Christianity was introduced c.1000 by the Norwegian Olaf I, although paganism seems to have survived for a time. These events are preserved in the literature of 13th-century Iceland, where Old Norse literature reached its greatest flowering. (Modern Icelandic is virtually the same language as that of the sagas.)

Politically, Iceland became a feudal state, and the bloody civil wars of rival chieftains facilitated Norwegian intervention. The attempt of Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) to establish the full control of King Haakon IV of Norway over Iceland was a failure; however, Haakon incorporated Iceland into the archdiocese of Trondheim and between 1261 and 1264 obtained acknowledgment of his suzerainty by the Icelanders. Norwegian rule brought order, but high taxes and an imposed judicial system caused much discontent. When, with Norway, Iceland passed (1380) under the Danish crown, the Danes showed even less concern for Icelandic welfare; a national decline (1400–1550) set in. Lutheranism was imposed by force (1539–51) over the opposition of Bishop Jon Aresson; the Reformation brought new intellectual activity.

The 17th and 18th cent. were, in many ways, disastrous for Iceland. English, Spanish, and Algerian pirates raided the coasts and ruined trade; epidemics and volcanic eruptions killed a large part of the population; and the creation (1602) of a private trading company at Copenhagen, with exclusive rights to the Iceland trade, caused economic ruin. The private trade monopoly was at last revoked in 1771 and transferred to the Danish crown, and in 1786 trade with Iceland was opened to all Danish and Norwegian merchants. The exclusion of foreign traders was lifted in 1854.

National Revival

The 19th cent. brought a rebirth of national culture (see Icelandic literature) and strong agitation for independence. The great leader of this movement was Jón Sigurðsson. The Althing, abolished in 1800, was reestablished in 1843; in 1874 a constitution and limited home rule were granted; and in 1918, Iceland became a sovereign state in personal union with Denmark. The German occupation (1940) of Denmark in World War II gave the Althing an opportunity to assume the king's prerogatives and the control of foreign affairs. Great Britain sent (1940) a military force to defend the island from possible German attack, and this was replaced after 1941 by U.S. forces.

In 1944 an overwhelming majority of Icelanders voted to terminate the union with Denmark; the kingdom of Iceland was proclaimed an independent republic on June 17, 1944. Sveinn Björrnsson was the first president. Iceland was admitted to the United Nations in 1946; it joined in the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 1946, Iceland granted the United States the right to use the American-built airport at Keflavík for military as well as commercial planes. Under a 1951 defense pact, U.S. troops were stationed there. Björnsson was succeeded by Ásgeir Ásgeirsson.

Relations with Great Britain were strained when Iceland, in order to protect its vital fishing industry, extended (1958) the limits of its territorial waters from 4 to 12 mi (6.4–19.3 km). The conflict, which at times led to exchanges of fire between Icelandic coast guard vessels and British destroyers, was resolved in 1961 when Great Britain accepted the new limits. Kristjárn Eldjárn was elected president in 1968 and reelected in 1972 and 1976. Iceland joined the European Free Trade Association in 1970. In 1971 elections the Independence party–Social Democratic party coalition government, which had governed for 12 years, lost its majority, and a leftist coalition came to power.

The dispute with Britain over fishing rights (widely known as the “cod wars”) was renewed in 1972 when Iceland unilaterally extended its territorial waters to 50 mi (80 km) offshore and forbade foreign fishing vessels in the new zone. An interim agreement was reached in 1973, whereby the British would limit their annual catch and restrict themselves to certain fishing areas and specified numbers and types of vessels.

In Jan., 1973, the Helgafell volcano on Heimaey island erupted, damaging the town of Vestmannaeyjar. Later in the year Iceland and the United States began revising the 1951 defense pact, with a view toward ending the U.S. military presence. U.S. forces still use the NATO base at Keflavík Airport, and their presence continues to be a point of contention among Iceland's parties.

A split in the ruling coalition over economic policies caused the Althing to be dissolved in 1974; following elections, the Independence party formed a new government. Iceland extended its fishing limits to 200 mi (320 km) in 1975, which, after more skirmishes with Great Britain, was finally recognized in 1976. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected president in 1980, thus becoming the world's first popularly elected female head of state; she was reelected in 1984, 1988, and 1992. Davíð Oddsson, of the conservative Independence party, became prime minister in 1991; his center-right coalition was returned to office in 1995, 1999, and, narrowly, 2003. In 1996, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was elected to succeed Finnbogadóttir, who retired as president. The highly popular Grímsson was reappointed to the post by parliament without an election in 2000; he was reelected in 2004. Oddsson resigned and exchanged posts with coalition partner and foreign minister Halldór Ásgrímsson, of the Progressive party, in Sept., 2004 (Oddsson stepped down as foreign minister a year later).

Bibliography

See V. H. Malmström, A Regional Geography of Iceland (1958); A. Líndal, Ripples from Iceland (1962); B. Guthmundsson, The Origin of the Icelanders (tr. 1967); B. Gröndal, Iceland: From Neutrality to NATO Membership (1971); V. Stefansson, Iceland (1939, repr. 1971); J. J. Horton, Iceland (1983); M. S. Magnusson, Iceland in Transition (1985); E. P. Durrenberger and G. Palsson, ed., The Anthropology of Iceland (1989).

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland) is an island nation, a volcanic island in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grimsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not a part of North America. It is the world's 18th largest island.

Approximately 10 percent of the island is glaciated. Many fjords punctuate its 3,088 miles (4,970 km) long coastline, which is also where most towns are situated because the island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable desert. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Keflavík, where the national airport is situated, and Akureyri. The island of Grímsey on the Arctic Circle contains the northernmost habitation of Iceland.
Area
Whole country: 39,768.5 square miles (103,000 km²)
Vegetation: 9,191 square miles (23,805 km²)
Lakes: 1,064 square miles (2,757 km²)
Glaciers: 4,603 square miles (11,922 km²)
Wasteland: 24,918 square miles (64,538 km²)

Geological and volcanic activity
Iceland is located on both a geological hot spot, thought to be caused by a mantle plume, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This combined location means that the island is extremely geologically active, having many volcanoes, notably Hekla, and geysers (itself an Icelandic word). With this widespread availability of geothermal power, and also because of the numerous rivers and waterfalls that are harnessed for hydropower, residents of most towns have hot water and home heat for a low price. The island itself is composed primarily of cooled basalt lava.

The Republic of Iceland，Islenska Lydveldid
Independent date: On December 1 (in 1918)
National Day: On June 17 (in 1944)
National flag: Assumes the rectangle, is long and the wide ratio is 25: 18. The flag is a blue color, is red, the white two colors cross divides into the flag surface four: Two equal blue color squares, two equal blue color rectangles. The blue color represents the sea, the white represents White snow. Blue, white two colors for Iceland's national beauty, manifests Icelandic the natural environment characteristic, namely in the blue color sky and the sea, floats "the ice land" □□Iceland. Iceland was from 1262 for Norway, 14 centuries with received Denmark to rule, therefore on national flag cross design source from the Danish national flag design, expressed in the Icelandic history and Norwegian, Denmark's relations.
National emblem: The central design for the national flag design the shield emblem. The shield emblem upper extreme has a red tongue Jin Zhua Bai Sun and a Bai Chihong tongue Jin Zhua dragon, left side is a black cow, right flank is standing the white clothing old person which a body throws over the cape. ***, the dragon, the cow and the old people all are in the fable patron god. The shield emblem lower extremity stone represents the Icelandic multi- rocks the long seacoast.
Physical geography: The area is 103,000 square kilometers. Is the European most west country, is located middle the North Atlantic Ocean, approaches the arctic circle, the glacier area accounts for 8,000 square kilometers, is the European second Oshima. Coastline long approximately 4,970 kilometers. The entire boundary 3/4 is the elevation 400 - 800 meters plateaus, 1/8 by glacier cover. Some more than 100 volcanos, active volcano more than 20 places. Warner reaches your Si Henu a gram volcano is the national high point, the elevation 2,119 meters. The Icelandic nearly entire country all establishes on the volcano rock, the majority of lands cannot open up wasteland, is world hot spring most countries, therefore is called country of the ice fire. Multi- eruptive fountains, waterfall, lake and rapids rivers, biggest rivers tin Ewer show river long 227 kilometers. Iceland is the cold temperate zone marine climate, constantly changing. Because is affected the Gulf Stream, compares the same latitude other places to be temperate. Summer sunshine long, the winter sunshine is extremely short. Autumn and at the beginning of winter obviously aurora.
Brief history: 8 century's ends, the Irish monks first migrate Iceland. 9 centuries latter half leaves, Norway starts to the Icelandic immigrants. A.D. 930 years establishment parliament and Icelandic federation. In 1262, Icelandic officials under the emperor in Norway. In 1380 the ice, moved with turns over to Denmark to rule. In 1904 attained home rule. In 1918, iced Dan to sign the federation law, stipulated the ice primarily power country, but the diplomatic work still controlled by Denmark. In 1940 Denmark is seized by Germany, ices Dan to relate the severance. The British armed forces enter and be stationed in the same year, next year United States military substitution British armed forces in ice. On June 16, 1944 the ice parliament official announcement dismissed the ice Dan alliance, on 17th established the Icelandic republic. In 1946 joined the United Nations, in 1949 became the NATO member.

Politics: Implements the republican system, the parliament and president wields the legislative power together, the court wields the jurisdiction, president and the government has the executive power together. President is the head of state, through the direct election production, the tenure in office four years, may Time has a time of getting to work. The parliament divides into, the next two courtyards. About the parliamentary original minute two courtyards, in October, 1991 merged are a courtyard, the tenure in office four years. Iceland does not establish the army.
Economy: Fishery, water conservation and geothermal resource rich, other natural resources are deficient, product and so on petroleum needs to import. The industry foundation is weak, except fishing light industry and so on outside product processing and knitting, the industry and builds up the aluminum contour energy consumption industry by the fishing product processing primarily. The fishery is the Icelandic national economy national economy pillar industry, mainly has the capelin, the cod and the black carp, the fishing product exportation accounts for the commodity total export more than 70%. Iceland's fishing fleet is well-equipped, the fish processing technology seizes first the status in the world. Locates the latitude to be high, 日照量 are few, only south several farms yearly produce 400 ~ 500 tons crops. The arable land area 1,000 square kilometers, account for the national total area 1%. The animal husbandry occupies the main status, the majority of agriculture use to use to do the feed pasture. The corresponding wool spinning industry and the leather making industry quite is developed. The meat, the milk, the egg 自给有余, grain, vegetables, fruit basic dependence import. The greenhouse cultivation tomato, the cucumber output may satisfy the domestic 70% expense. Service industry occupies the important status in the national economy national economy, including trade, bank, safe and public service and so on, its output value approximately composes GDP one half, is employed the population to occupy the total labor force 2/3 to be strong. In 1980 developed the tourism vigorously. The main tourist point has the big glacier, the volcano landform, the geothermy eruptive fountain and the waterfall and so on. Iceland's per capital GDP amounts to more than 30,000 US dollars, is the world vanguard. There air and the water source are fresh purely may be called in the world first. Human's mean lifetime achieves the female 81.3 years old, male 76.4 years old. As early as Iceland eliminated the illiterate person in more than 100 years ago. In 1999 Iceland has become in the world the mobile phone popular rate highest country.