The president of Iceland () is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, but serves as the head of the state and formally appoints new governments and their ministers. The president is elected by popular vote to a four-year term, and can be reelected any number of times. Historically, while first-term elections have often been hard-fought, an incumbent president who decides to seek another term has usually run unopposed, or they have won re-election with an overwhelming majority of the vote when opposed. The 2012 election was a notable exception to this, where incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won with only 52.78% of the vote. Iceland was the first country to have an elected female head of state when Vigdís Finnbogadóttir assumed Iceland's presidency on 1 August 1980. The presidential residence is situated in Bessastaðir in

Garðabær Garðabær () is a town and municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. History Garðabær is a growing town in the Capital Region. It is the fifth largest municipality in Iceland with a population of 20,116 (1 January 2025). The site of Gar ...

, near the capital city

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Origin

When Iceland became a republic in 1944 by the passing of a new constitution the position of King of Iceland was simply replaced by the president of Iceland. A transitional provision of the new constitution stipulated that the first president be elected by the Parliament.

Etymology

The term for ''president'' in Icelandic is ''forseti''. The word ''

forseti ''Forseti Seated in Judgment'' (1881) by Carl Emil Doepler Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", " president" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosi ...

'' means ''one who sits foremost'' (''sá sem fremst situr'') in

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

/ Icelandic or literally ''fore-sitter''. It is the name of one of the

Æsir Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are deities, gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and Nordic mythology, mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods i ...

, the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the

Frisians The Frisians () are an ethnic group indigenous to the German Bight, coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland an ...

Powers and duties

Executive powers

Cabinet

The president appoints ministers to the Cabinet of Iceland, determines their number and division of assignments. Ministers are not able to resign and must be discharged by the president. While the president is vested with executive power, he is not responsible for exercising it. His acts are not valid without the countersignature of a minister, who then assumes political responsibility for the act. In the aftermath of general elections, the president has the role to designate a party leader (the one that the president considers most likely to be able to form a majority coalition government) to formally start negotiations to form a government.

Sveinn Björnsson Sveinn Björnsson (; 27 February 1881 – 25 January 1952) was the first president of Iceland, serving from 1944 to 1952. Background, education and legal career Sveinn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the son of Björn Jónsson (editor and ...

and Ásgeir Ásgeirsson played highly active roles in the formation of governments, attempting to set up governments that suited their political preferences, whereas

Kristján Eldjárn Kristján Eldjárn (; 6 December 1916 – 14 September 1982) was the third president of Iceland, serving from 1968 to 1980. Biography Kristján was born in Tjörn, Svarfaðardal, Iceland. His parents were Þórarinn Kr. Eldjárn, a teacher in ...

and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir were passive and neutral as to individuals and parties comprising the government.

State Council

The president and the Cabinet meet in the State Council. The Cabinet must inform the president of important matters of the state and drafted bills. During meetings the Cabinet may also suggest convening, adjourning or dissolving the Parliament.

Prosecution and pardoning

The president can decide that the prosecution for an offense be discontinued and can also grant

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

and amnesty.

Legislative powers

Article 2 of the constitution states that the president and the Parliament jointly exercise the legislative power. The president signs bills passed by the Parliament into law and can choose not to sign them, thus in effect

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

ing them. Bills vetoed by the president still take effect, should the Parliament not withdraw them, but they must be confirmed in a referendum. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (who served 1996–2016) is the only president to have vetoed legislation from Parliament, having done so only on three occasions (2004, 2010, 2011). This power was originally intended to be used only in extremely extenuating circumstances. The president has the power to submit bills and resolutions to the Parliament which it must take under consideration. Should the Parliament not be in session, the president can issue provisional laws which must conform with the constitution. Provisional laws become void if the Parliament does not confirm them when it convenes. No president has ever submitted bills nor resolutions, nor issued provisional laws. Article 30 of the constitution states that the president can grant exceptions from laws. No president has yet exercised this authority.

Parliament

The president convenes the Parliament after general elections and formally dissolves it. They can temporarily adjourn its sessions and move them if they deems so necessary. Furthermore, the president opens all regular sessions of the Parliament each year.

Ceremonial duties

The president is the designated grand master of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

Detailed powers

Source:

Compensation

The president receives a monthly salary of 2,480,341 ISK. Article 9 of the constitution states the salary cannot be lowered for an incumbent president.

Residence

Article 12 of the constitution states that the president shall reside in or near

. Since inception the official residence of the president has been Bessastaðir which is in

Álftanes Álftanes () is the name of a town and a collection of small peninsulas in Iceland. It means ''swan peninsula''. The best known of these peninsulas extrudes from the eastern part of Reykjanes with the town of the same name in the Capital Region ...

Eligibility

Articles 4 and 5 of the constitution set the following qualifications for holding the presidency: * meet the qualifications specified for members of the Althingi * be at least thirty-five years old * have at least 1,500 commendations

Succession

Articles 7 and 8 of the constitution state that when the president dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to perform their duties, such as when they are abroad or sick, the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, the president of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and the president of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

shall collectively assume the power of the office until the president can resume their duties or a new president has been elected. Their meetings are led by the president of the Parliament where they vote on any presidential decision. The above also occurs as an

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

between the expiration of the previous president's term at midnight on 1 August and the inauguration of their successor. If the office of the president becomes vacant because of death or resignation, a new president shall be elected by the general public to a four-year term ending on 1 August in the fourth year after the elections.

remains the only president to die in office in 1952, triggering a presidential election one year ahead of schedule.

Removal

Article 11 of the constitution lays out the process by which the president can be removed from office. It states that the president does not bear responsibility for the actions of their government and that they can not be prosecuted without consent of the Parliament. A

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

instigated by the Parliament with 3/4 support must approve of their removal. Once the Parliament has approved of the referendum, the president must temporarily step aside until the results of the referendum are known. The referendum must be held within two months of the vote, and, should the removal be rejected by the people, then the Parliament must immediately be dissolved and a new

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

held. A removal from office has not occurred since the founding of the republic.

List

There have been seven presidents since the establishment of the republic. Term: ¹ ''appointed'' · ² '' died in office'' · ³ '' uncontested''