REPUBLIC OF ICELAND Official name: Lydhveldidh Island (Republic of Iceland) Location: Northern Europe / Atlantic Ocean International organisations: The Council of Europe, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation. Borders: None Coastline: Atlantic Ocean Land area: 103,000 Km2 Population: 290,000 Ethnicity: Over 95% of the population are Icelandic. There are small minorities of other Europeans.

Languages: Icelandic is the official language and is universally spoken. English, Danish and German are widely understood.
Religion: Almost the entire population are at least nominal Protestant Christians.
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Ideland is divided into eight regions.
Capital: Reykjavik
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Iceland came into effect 17 June 1944.
Head of state: The President, elected by the direct universal suffrage for a four-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial. President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson took office on 1 Aug 1996.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Iceland has a unicameral legislature. The Parliament (Althing) has 63 members, elected for four-year terms from multi-member constituencies.
Electoral authority: The Iceland Election Authority administers national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 1

Political history

Iceland was first settled Scandinavia and Celtic immigrants during the 9th and 10th centuries. Its legislature, the Althing, was founded in 930. It was brought under Danish rule in 1380. Limited internal self-government was granted in 1874. Iceland became fully self-governing in 1918 as the Kingdom of Iceland in personal union with Denmark, with the Althing having full control over domestic matters. When Denmark was occupied by Germany in 1940, the Allies occupied Iceland to prevent German influence. Iceland became fully independent in 1944.

The main Icelandic political parties are the conseravtive Independence Party, the centrist Liberal Party and the centre-left Alliance. The once powerful Communist Party has lost its influence and been absorbed into the Left-Green Alliance.