Statistics

National name: Lydveldid Island

President: �lafur Ragnar Grimsson (1996)

Prime Minister: David Oddsson (1991)

Area: 39,768 sq mi (103,000 sq km) (including some offshore islands)

Population (2001 est.): 277,906 (average annual rate of natural increase: 0.8%); birth rate: 14.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.6/1000; density per sq mi: 7

Capital and largest city (1994 est.): Reykjavik, 103,036

Monetary unit: Icelandic kr�na

Language: Icelandic

Ethnicity/race: homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norwegians and Celts

Religions: Church of Iceland (Evangelical Lutheran) 96%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, none 1%

Literacy rate: 100% (1976)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1999 est.): $6.42 billion; per capita $23,500. Real growth rate: 4.5%. Inflation: 1.9%. Unemployment: 2.4%. Arable land: 0%. Agriculture: potatoes, turnips; cattle, sheep; fish. Labor force: 131,000; manufacturing, 12.9%; fishing and fish processing, 11.8%; construction, 10.7%; other services, 59.5%; agriculture, 5.1%. Industries: fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production, geothermal power; tourism. Natural resources: fish, hydropower, geothermal power, diatomite. Exports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1998): fish and fish products 70%, animal products, aluminum, diatomite and ferrosilicon. Imports: $2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1998): machinery and equipment, petroleum products; foodstuffs, textiles. Major trading partners: EU, U.S., Japan.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 162,310 (1997); mobile cellular: 65,746 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 260,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 14 (plus 156 low-power repeaters) (1997). Televisions: 98,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (1999).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 12,689 km; paved: 3,439 km; unpaved: 9,250 km (1998 est.). Ports and harbors: Akureyri, Hornafjordur, Isafjordhur, Keflavik, Raufarhofn, Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur, Straumsvik, Vestmannaeyjar. Airports: 86 (1999 est.).

International disputes: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area).

Geography

Iceland, an island about the size of Kentucky, lies in the north Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and just touches the Arctic Circle. It is one of the most volcanic regions in the world. The island is dotted with small freshwater lakes, and there are many natural phenomena, including hot springs, geysers, sulfur beds, canyons, waterfalls, and swift rivers. More than 13% of the area is covered by snowfields and glaciers, and most of the people live in the 7% of the island that is made up of fertile coastland. The Gulf Stream keeps Iceland's climate milder than one would expect from an island near the Arctic Circle.

Constitutional republic.

The earliest inhabitants of Iceland were Irish hermits, who left the island upon the arrival of the pagan Norse people in the late 9th century A.D. A constitution drawn up c. 930 created a form of democracy and provided for an Althing, the world's oldest practicing legislative assembly. The island's early history was preserved in the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century.

In 1262�64, Iceland came under Norwegian rule and passed to ultimate Danish control through the unification of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (the Kalmar Union) in 1397.

In 1874, Icelanders obtained their own constitution, and in 1918, Denmark recognized Iceland, via the Act of Union, as a separate state with unlimited sovereignty. It remained, however, nominally under the Danish monarchy.

During the German occupation of Denmark during World War II, British, then American, troops occupied Iceland and used it for a strategic air base. While officially neutral, Iceland cooperated with the Allies throughout the conflict. On June 17, 1944, after a popular referendum, the Althing proclaimed Iceland an independent republic.

The country joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949, and subsequently received an American air force base in 1951. In 1970, it was admitted to the European Free Trade Association. Iceland unilaterally extended its territorial fishing limit from 3 to 200 nautical mi in 1972, precipitating a dispute with the UK known as the �cod wars,� which ended in 1976, when the UK recognized the new limits. In 1980, the Icelanders elected a woman to the office of the presidency, the first elected female chief of state (i.e., president as distinct from prime minister) in the world.

After the recession of the early 1990s, Iceland began strengthening its economy. Government projections in mid-1997 showed that the country would have a large budget surplus for the year owing to fiscal management and a healthy economy. The government hoped to cut public spending further and boost the surplus.

At the International Whaling Commission meeting in July 2001, Iceland refused to agree to the moratorium on commercial whaling that has been in effect since 1986. Iceland has not resumed whaling, but it does not want to give up the possibility of commercial whaling altogether.

See Also: Statistics Iceland www.statice.is/Welcome.html

(Source: www.infoplease.com )

(this website was designed using Microsoft Notepad, and is best viewed using a computer of some kind.) - Alex Martindale, for Kerry McGregor, 7/11/2001