Environment Of Iceland
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Iceland:
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 ...
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...
island nation An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
located in the
North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
between
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
and
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
. It is considered part of
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
. It is the least populous of the
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...
, having a population of about 329,000 (January 1, 2015).Population - key figures 1703-2015
Statistics Iceland Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale; this defines the landscape in various ways. The interior mainly consists of a
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
characterized by sand fields,
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
s and
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s, while many big glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Warmed by the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
, Iceland has a
temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...
relative to its
latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...
and provides a habitable environment and nature.


General reference

* Pronunciation:
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 ...
* Common English country name:
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 ...
* Official English country name:
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 ...
* Common
endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
(s): Ísland * Official endonym(s): Ísland * Adjectival(s): Icelandic *
Demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
(s): Icelander(s) *
Etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
: Name of Iceland *
ISO country codes ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country code'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It i ...
: IS, ISL, 352 *
ISO region codes ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and defines codes for identifying the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1. The of ...
: See ISO 3166-2:IS *
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...
: .is


Geography of Iceland

Geography of Iceland Iceland is an island country at the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, Arctic oceans, east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the constructive boundary of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridg ...
* Iceland is: a
Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...
island country An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
* Land boundaries: ''none'' * Coastline: 4,970 km * Population of Iceland: 319,326 people (April 2009
estimate Estimation (or estimating) is the process of finding an estimate or approximation, which is a value that is usable for some purpose even if input data may be incomplete, uncertain, or unstable. The value is nonetheless usable because it is de ...
) - 172nd most populous country * Area of Iceland: - 107th largest country * Atlas of Iceland


Location of Iceland

* Iceland is situated within the following regions: **
Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...
and
Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...
**
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
***
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
**
Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
***
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
****
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
*****
Nordic region The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway ...
**
Time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...
:
Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communicat ...
UTC+00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communicat ...
*
Extreme points of Iceland This is a list of the extreme points of Iceland, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Iceland (country) * Northernmost point — Kolbeinsey, Eyjafjörður () * Northernmost settlement — Gr ...
** High: Hvannadalshnúkur ** Low:
North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
0 m


Environment of Iceland

*
Climate of Iceland Iceland has a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfc'') near the southern coastal area and tundra (Köppen ''ET'') inland in the highlands. The island lies in the path of the North Atlantic Current, which makes its climat ...
*
Renewable energy in Iceland Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of the electricity in Iceland's electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domesti ...
**
Geothermal power in Iceland Geothermal power in Iceland refers to the use of geothermal energy in Iceland for electricity generation. Iceland's uniquely active geology has led to natural conditions especially suitable for harnessing geothermal energy. Icelanders have long u ...
*
Geology of Iceland The geology of Iceland is unique and of particular interest to geologists. Iceland lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. It also lies above a hotspot, the Iceland plume. The plume is believed ...
**
Earthquakes in Iceland An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...
**
Volcanism of Iceland :''The volcano system in Iceland that started activity on August 17, 2014, and ended on February 27, 2015, is Bárðarbunga.'' :''The volcano in Iceland that erupted in May 2011 is Grímsvötn.'' Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, ...
***
List of volcanic eruptions in Iceland This is an incomplete list of volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Please see External links below for databases of Icelandic eruptions which include over 530 events. ''For latest information about the current/ongoing series of eruptions near Grindav ...
***
List of volcanoes in Iceland There are too many presumed extinct or now inactive volcanic features to list all of these below, so most monogenetic volcanoes can not be mentioned individually. This list of volcanoes in Iceland only includes major active and dormant volcano, ...
***
Iceland hotspot The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot that is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity that has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland. It contributes to understanding the geological deformation of Iceland. Iceland is one ...
***
Iceland plume The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot that is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity that has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland. It contributes to understanding the geological deformation of Iceland. Iceland is one ...
*
National parks of Iceland Since 2008, Iceland has three national parks. Prior to 2008 there were four national parks in Iceland; in that year Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Jökulsárgljúfur and Skaftafell National Park, Skaftafell were merged and incorporated into Va ...
**
Snæfellsjökull Snæfellsjökull (, ''snow-fell glacier'') is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. It is situated on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa ...
**
Vatnajökull Vatnajökull ( Icelandic pronunciation: , literally "Glacier of Lakes"; sometimes translated as Vatna Glacier in English) is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the second largest in area in Europe after the Severny Island i ...
**
Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter thorn (letter), "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Althing, Alþing, the annual ...
* Wildlife of Iceland ** Flora of Iceland *** ''
The Botany of Iceland ''The Botany of Iceland'' is a five-volume classic scientific work on flora and vegetation of Iceland. It includes fungi, lichen, algae, bryophytes, and vascular plants. History It was published 1912 to 1949 and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. ...
'' ***
Campanula uniflora ''Campanula uniflora'', known commonly as arctic bellflower and arctic harebell, is a short and slender rhizomatous perennial in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. It is distributed in arctic North America, including the Rocky Mountains and Gre ...
***
Cerastium arcticum ''Cerastium arcticum'', the Arctic mouse-ear chickweed or Arctic mouse-ear, is a flower found in parts of western and southern Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland, Norway and Svalbard. It is a perennial herb tha ...
***
Crowberry ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Desc ...
***
Dryas octopetala ''Dryas octopetala'', the mountain avens, eightpetal mountain-avens, white dryas or white dryad, is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies. The specific epithe ...
***
Lupinus nootkatensis ''Lupinus nootkatensis'', the Nootka lupine, is a perennial plant of the genus ''Lupinus'' in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to North America and was introduced to Europe in the late 18th century. It grows up to 60 cm tall, and ha ...
***
Ranunculus glacialis ''Ranunculus'' is a List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is d ...
***
Salix arctica ''Salix arctica'', the Arctic willow, is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras. Description ''S. arctica'' is typically a low shrub growing to only in height, rarely to ...
***
Saxifraga cernua ''Saxifraga cernua'', the drooping saxifrage, nodding saxifrage or bulblet saxifrage, is a flower common all over the High Arctic. It stretches further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Iceland, Siberia and Alaska. It grows to 10& ...
***
Saxifraga cespitosa ''Saxifraga cespitosa'', the tufted alpine saxifrage or tufted saxifrage, is a species of flowering plant common to many arctic heights. It appears further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Siberia, wester ...
***
Stellaria humifusa ''Stellaria humifusa'', the saltmarsh starwort, is plant native to northern North America and Eurasia. References

Stellaria, holostea Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of Eastern Europe Flora of Northern Europe Flora of Siberia Flora of Su ...
** Fauna of Iceland ***
Birds of Iceland Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...
****
Anatidae The Anatidae are the biological family (biology), family of water birds that includes ducks, goose, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted f ...
*****
Cygnus olor The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...
*****
Cygnus columbianus The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the w ...
***** Cygnus cygnus ***** Anser fabalis ***** Anser brachyrhynchus *** Insects of Iceland ****
Moths of Iceland Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (suborder Rhopalocera) a ...
*** Mammals of Iceland *** Fishes of Iceland **** Freshwater fishes of Iceland


Geographic features of Iceland

*
Fjords of Iceland The fjords of Iceland, listed in a clockwise direction round the island from the SW to the east. There are no important fjords along the south coast: most of the inlets there are lagoons. Western fjords * Faxaflói ** Stakksfjörður ** Hafnarfj ...
*
Glaciers of Iceland The glaciers and ice caps of Iceland covered 11% of the land area of the country, up to about 2008. this was down to 10%. They have a considerable impact on its landscape and meteorology. Glaciers are also contributing to the Icelandic economy, w ...
*
Highlands of Iceland The Highland (Icelandic language, Icelandic: ''Hálendið)'' or The Central Highland is an area that comprises much of the interior land of Iceland. The Highland is situated above and is mostly uninhabitable. The soil is primarily volcanic as ...
*
Islands of Iceland This is a list of islands of Iceland. It includes all islands larger than 1 km2, as well as a number of smaller islands that are considered significant either because they are or used to be inhabited, or for specific historical, geographical ...
*
Lakes of Iceland Iceland has over 20 lakes larger than 10 km2 (4 sq mi), and at least 40 others varying between 2.5 and 10 km2 (1 to 4 sq mi) in size. This list also includes a few smaller lakes and ponds that are considered notable (for example Tjörnin ...
* Mountains of Iceland **
Baula Baula () is a mountain situated in the west of Iceland near Route 1, Bifröst University, and the craters of Grábrók. The mountain's reddish or orange hue is caused by its rhyolite rock composition. Geologically, the mountain is a laccolith, ...
**
Borgarvirki Borgarvirki lies between Vesturhóp and Víðidalur in the north of Iceland, and at 177m above sea level it dominates the surrounding region. Made out of basalt strata, it has been used as a fortress. Borgarvirki is a natural phenomenon, al ...
**
Búrfellshyrna Búrfellshyrna () is a mountain in the Svarfaðardalur in northern 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 a ...
**
Búlandstindur Búlandstindur () is a mountain in Eastern Iceland between the bays Berufjörður and Hamarsfjörður. Mt. Búlandstindur is above sea level. It is a pyramid-shaped stack of basaltic strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strat ...
**
Eldgjá Eldgjá (, "fire canyon") is a volcano and a canyon in Iceland. Eldgjá is part of the Katla volcano; it is a segment of a long chain of volcanic craters and fissure vents that extends northeast away from Katla volcano almost to the Vatnajök ...
** Esjan **
Helgafell Helgafell may refer to: * Helgafell (Hafnarfjörður), a mountain , on the Reykjanes peninsula, south-west Iceland * Helgafell, a mountain , in Mosfellsbær north-east of Reykjavík * Helgafell, a mountain at , in Rangárþing eystra, south-cen ...
**
Herðubreið Herðubreið (, ''broad-shouldered'') is a tuya in the northern part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. It is situated in the Highlands of Iceland at the east side of the Ódáðahraun () desert and close to Askja volcano. The desert is a ...
** Hlíðarfjall ** Hvannadalshnúkur ** Kerling **
Kerlingarfjöll Kerlingarfjöll () is a tall volcanic massive in Iceland situated in the Highlands of Iceland near the Kjölur highland road. It is usually regarded as part of a large tuya fissure system of in the southern portion of the Hofsjökull volcanic ...
(mountain range) **
Kverkfjöll Kverkfjöll () is a potentially active central volcano, Fissure vent#Iceland, fissure swarm, and associated mountain range situated on the northern border of the glacier Vatnajökull in Iceland. It is located in Vatnajökull National Park and ...
(mountain range) **
Súlur Súlur () is a mountain located to the south west of the town Akureyri in 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 Am ...
** Óshyrna ** Volcanoes in Iceland ***
Askja Askja () is an active volcano situated in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland. The name Askja refers to a complex of nested calderas within the surrounding Dyngjufjöll mountains, which rise to , ''askja'' meaning ''box'' or ' ...
***
Bláhnjúkur Bláhnjúkur () is a volcano in the south of Iceland. Its height is 940 m. Its name translates to ''blue peak'' in English. This comes from the blue-black colour of its sides. The colour is due to volcanic ash and lava flows. The mountain is sit ...
***
Brennisteinsalda The Brennisteinsalda () is a volcano in the south of Iceland. Its height is about 855 m. It is situated near Landmannalaugar and not far from Hekla. The name means in English: ''sulphur wave''. It comes from the sulphur spots which have coloured ...
*** Búrfell ***
Hekla Hekla (), or Hecla, is an active stratovolcano in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since the year 1210. During the Middle Ages, th ...
***
Helgafell Helgafell may refer to: * Helgafell (Hafnarfjörður), a mountain , on the Reykjanes peninsula, south-west Iceland * Helgafell, a mountain , in Mosfellsbær north-east of Reykjavík * Helgafell, a mountain at , in Rangárþing eystra, south-cen ...
***
Hengill Hengill () is a volcanic table mountain situated in the south-west of Iceland, to the south of Þingvellir. The volcano is still active, as evidenced by its numerous hot springs and fumaroles, but the last eruption occurred approximately 2,000&n ...
*** Katla ***
Kollóttadyngja Kollóttadyngja () is a shield volcano in the Ódáðahraun lava-field in Iceland. Its height reaches 1,177 metres, and it has a diameter of 6–7 km. The summit crater is 800 metres in diameter, but only about 20–30  ...
***
Krafla Krafla () is a volcanic caldera of about in diameter with a long fissure zone. It is located in the north of Iceland in the Mývatn region and is situated on the Iceland hotspot atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which forms the divergent boundary ...
***
Laki Laki () or Lakagígar (, ''Craters of Laki'') is a volcanic fissure in the western part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland, not far from the volcanic fissure of Eldgjá and the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The fissure is proper ...
***
Öræfajökull Öræfajökull (; 'Öræfi glacier' or 'wasteland glacier') is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at , it lies within the Vatnajökull National Park and is covered by part of ...
***
Skjaldbreiður Skjaldbreiður (, "broad shield") is an Icelandic lava shield formed in a huge and quite protracted eruption series from about roughly 9,500 years ago. The extensive lava fields which were produced by this eruption, flowed southwards, and f ...
***
Snæfellsjökull Snæfellsjökull (, ''snow-fell glacier'') is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. It is situated on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjavík over Faxa ...
***
Trölladyngja Situated in the Ódáðahraun lava field, Trölladyngja () is the biggest of the Icelandic shield volcanoes, reaching a height of above sea level, and rising almost above the surrounding desert and lava fields. It part of the Bárðarbunga vol ...
*
Rivers of Iceland On an island like Iceland, the rivers are short in length. None of the rivers are important as a means of navigation due to the impracticality of settlements in the Highlands of Iceland where they originate. South * Hvítá * Krossá *Kúðaflj ...
**
Waterfalls of Iceland Iceland is well suited for waterfalls (Icelandic: s. ''foss,'' pl. ''fossar''). This Nordic countries, Nordic island country lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which separates North America and Europe near where the North Atlantic and Arctic Oce ...
*
Valleys of Iceland A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or s ...
*
World Heritage Sites in Iceland The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...


Regions of Iceland


Region codes

*
NUTS of Iceland As a candidate country of the European Union, Iceland (IS) is included in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). The three NUTS levels are: * NUTS-1: IS0 Iceland * NUTS-2: IS00 Iceland * NUTS-3: Capital area / Rest of country ...
* ISO 3166-2 codes of Iceland * FIPS region codes of Iceland


Administrative divisions of Iceland

Administrative divisions of Iceland This article shows the administrative divisions of Iceland. Constituencies Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the regions, but by an amendment to the constitution they were changed to the current ...
*
Regions of Iceland The regions of Iceland are eight areas of Iceland that roughly follow the arrangement of parliamentary constituencies as they were between 1959 and 2003. These regions are not incorporated polities but rather recognized groupings of municipaliti ...
*
Counties of Iceland Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...


= Constituencies of Iceland

=
Constituencies of Iceland Iceland is divided into six Constituency, constituencies for the purpose of selecting Legislator, representatives to Althing, parliament.National Electoral Commission of Iceland 2013, p. 4 History The current division was established by a 1999 ...
Iceland is divided into 6
constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
for the purpose of selecting representatives to the
Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...
(parliament): *Reykjavík North (11) *Reykjavík South (11) *Northwest (9) *Northeast (10) *South (10) *Southwest (12)


= Municipalities of Iceland

=
Municipalities of Iceland The municipalities of Iceland ( ; Grammatical number#Overview, sing.  ) are local administrative areas in Iceland that provide a number of services to their inhabitants such as kindergartens, elementary schools, waste management, social serv ...
* Cities of Iceland (by population) ** Capital of Iceland:
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 ...


Demography of Iceland

Demographics of Iceland The demographics of Iceland include population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. As of 2022, the Icelandic population was just over 376,000. About 86,000 ...


Government and politics of Iceland

* Form of government:
unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigr ...
parliamentary 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 ...
representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...
republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
* Capital of Iceland:
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 ...
*
Elections in Iceland Iceland elects on a national level a mostly ceremonial head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. The parliament () has 63 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional ...
*
Icelandic nationalism is the Icelandic term for nationalism; ''nationmindedness'' is a rough translation of the term. Its use was instrumental in the Icelandic movement for independence from Denmark, led by Jón Sigurðsson. Icelandic nationalism or is based upon ...
*
Political parties in Iceland Iceland has a multi-party system with many political party, political parties, in which often no one party has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Nine parties were elected at the ...
*
Icelandic political scandals Icelandic political scandals are political scandals which have occurred in Iceland's history and are connected to Iceland's politicians: * (1911) Bankafarganið – Public opinion shifted to mistrust when Björn Jónsson, the Icelandic min ...
* Taxation in Iceland


Branches of the government of Iceland

Government of Iceland The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a parliamentary system, parliamentary representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Iceland, president is the head of state, while the prime ministe ...


Executive branch of the government of Iceland

* Head of state:
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson (; born 26 June 1968) is an Icelandic historian and politician who served as the sixth president of Iceland from 2016 to 2024. A historian, Guðni was a professor at the University of Iceland before running for pr ...
,
President of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...
* Head of government:
Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (pronounced sɪːɣʏrðʏr ˈiŋgɪ ˈjouːhansɔn born 20 April 1962) is an Icelandic politician, who was the prime minister of Iceland from April 2016 to January 2017. He has been the chairman of the Progressive ...
,
Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland () is head of government of the Republic of Iceland. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president of Iceland, president and exercises executive authority along with the Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet subje ...
** First Lady of Iceland *
Cabinet of Iceland The Cabinet of Iceland () is the collective decision-making body of the government of Iceland, composed of the Prime Minister of Iceland, Prime Minister and the Minister (government), cabinet ministers. History The Cabinet of Iceland is conside ...
** Cabinet ministers *** Minister of Education, Science and Culture of Iceland: Illugi GunnarssonPresent government of Iceland
/ref> ***
Minister for the Environment of Iceland An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated ...
:
Sigrún Magnúsdóttir Sigrún Magnúsdóttir (born 15 June 1944) is an Icelandic politician and a former cabinet member. She represented the Reykjavík North Constituency in the Althingi from 2013 until 2016. Minister for the Environment At the end of 2014 she was ...
***
Minister of Finance of Iceland The Icelandic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ') is responsible for overseeing the finances of the Icelandic government. The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs is Daði Már Kristófersson. Organization of the Ministry of Finance The t ...
: Bjarni Benediktsson *** Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture of Iceland:
Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (pronounced sɪːɣʏrðʏr ˈiŋgɪ ˈjouːhansɔn born 20 April 1962) is an Icelandic politician, who was the prime minister of Iceland from April 2016 to January 2017. He has been the chairman of the Progressive ...
***
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland The Ministry for Foreign Affairs () is an Icelandic cabinet-level ministry founded 18 November 1941. The ministry is responsible for foreign policy, diplomatic missions, trade, foreign aid, and interactions with international organizations ...
:
Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (born 9 June 1968) is an Icelandic politician for the Centre Party. He is a member of the Althingi (Iceland's parliament) for the Centre Party for the Northwest of Iceland constituency since 2017. He was the chairman of ...
*** Minister of Health:
Kristján Þór Júlíusson Kristján Þór Júlíusson (15 July 1957 in Dalvík) is an Icelandic politician, a member of Alþingi and former Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture.http://www.althingi.is/cv_en.php4?ksfaerslunr=110 Official page at the Alþingi He complete ...
(Part of the
Ministry of Welfare (Iceland) The Ministry of Welfare () is an Icelandic Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet-level ministry founded 1 January 2011. It is the result of the merger of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security, founded 17 April 1939 as the Ministry of Social Af ...
) *** Minister of Social Affairs and Housing:
Eygló Harðardóttir Eygló Harðardóttir (born 12 December 1972) is an Icelandic politician and former cabinet member. She served as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Housing from 2013 to 2017. She has a degree in art from the Stockholm University and has ...
(Part of the
Ministry of Welfare (Iceland) The Ministry of Welfare () is an Icelandic Cabinet of Iceland, cabinet-level ministry founded 1 January 2011. It is the result of the merger of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security, founded 17 April 1939 as the Ministry of Social Af ...
) *** Ministry of Industries and Innovation of Iceland:
Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir (born 30 September 1967) is an Icelandic politician who is the director of the OECD Development Centre. She was previously the Politics of Iceland, Minister of Industry and Commerce from 2013 to 2017 and an electe ...
*** Minister of the Interior of Iceland:
Ólöf Nordal Ólöf Nordal (3 December 1966 – 8 February 2017) was an Icelandic politician who was the Minister of the Interior of Iceland from 4 December 2014 to 11 January 2017. She died on 8 February 2017. She was a member of the Independence Party. ...
** List of cabinets of Iceland *
List of Icelandic ministries This is a list of Icelandic government ministries. Ministries Historical ministries See also * Government agencies in Iceland ReferencesCabinet of IcelandCabinet of Iceland {{Iceland topics Ministries Ministry may refer to: ...


Legislative branch of the government of Iceland

*
Parliament of Iceland The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what lat ...
**
List of standing committees of the Icelandic parliament The following is a list of standing committees of the Althing, Icelandic parliament. See also

*List of Icelandic ministries *Government agencies in Iceland {{Standing committees of Iceland Standing committees of the Icelandic parliament, ...
**
List of speakers of the Parliament of Iceland This is a list of speakers of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament. The Speaker of the Althing (, literally the President of the Althing) is the presiding officer ( speaker) of that legislature. Speakers of the United Althing (1875–1991) Sour ...


Judicial branch of the government of Iceland

*
Supreme Court of Iceland The Supreme Court of Iceland (, , ) is the final court of appeal in the judiciary of Iceland. It is also the oldest of the current courts of law in Iceland and the highest of the three Icelandic court branches, the others being the District Co ...


Foreign relations of Iceland

Foreign relations of Iceland Iceland took control of its foreign affairs in 1918 when it became a sovereign country, the Kingdom of Iceland, in a personal union with the King of Denmark. As a fully independent state, Iceland could have joined the League of Nations in 1920, ...
*
Accession of Iceland to the European Union Accession refers to the general idea of joining or adding to. It may also refer to: * Accession (property law) * Accession, the act of joining a treaty by a party that did not take part in its negotiations; see Vienna Convention on the Law of Tre ...
*
List of diplomatic missions in Iceland This is a list of diplomatic missions in Iceland. There are currently 14 embassies in Reykjavík. Embassies in Reykjavík Representative offices Non-resident embassies accredited to Iceland Resident in Copenhagen, Denmark # # # # ...
*
List of diplomatic missions of Iceland This is a list of diplomatic missions of Iceland. In countries without Icelandic representation, Icelandic citizens can seek assistance from public officials in the foreign services of any of the other Nordic countries, in accordance with the H ...
* Visa requirements for Icelandic citizens


International organization membership

International organization membership of Iceland The Republic of Iceland is a member of: *
Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic region. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic ...
*
Australia Group The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984) to help member countries to i ...
*
Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by member central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central bank ...
(BIS) *
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
(CE) *
Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: regional identity; regional safety and security; regional sustainability and prosperity. These three priority areas aim ...
(CBSS) *
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post–Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central Asi ...
(EAPC) *
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...
(EBRD) *
European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...
(EFTA) *
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...
(FAO) *
International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...
(IAEA) *
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States; it is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers lo ...
(IBRD) *
International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...
(ICC) *
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
(ICAO) *
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
(ICCt) *
International Criminal Police Organization The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
(Interpol) *
International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) () is a development finance institution which offers concessional loans and grant (money), grants to the world's poorest developing country, developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World ...
(IDA) *
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...
(IFRCS) *
International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...
(IFC) *
International Fund for Agricultural Development The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the on ...
(IFAD) *
International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...
(IHO) *
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...
(ILO) *
International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...
(IMO) *
International Mobile Satellite Organization International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) is the oversight body of the satellite communications elements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) established by the IMO designed to provide a worldwide system for automate ...
(IMSO) *
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF) *
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC) *
International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...
(ISO) *
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
(ICRM) *
International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...
(ITU) *
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) is an intergovernmental organization charged with overseeing the public service obligations of Intelsat, which was privatized in 2001. It incorporates the principle set forth i ...
(ITSO) *
International Trade Union Confederation The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC; ; ; ) is the world's largest trade union federation. History The federation was formed on 1 November 2006 out of the merger of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) a ...
(ITUC) *
Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...
(IPU) *
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...
(MIGA) *
Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...
(NC) *
Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also becam ...
(NIB) *
North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...
(NATO) *
Nuclear Energy Agency The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is an intergovernmental agency that is organized under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Originally formed on 1 February 1958 with the name European Nuclear Energy Agency (ENEA)—t ...
(NEA) *
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
(OECD) *
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
(OSCE) *
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW; French: ''Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques'', OIAC) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), ...
(OPCW) *
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
(OAS) (observer) *
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
(PCA) *
Schengen Convention The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the te ...
*
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
(UN) *
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...
(UNCTAD) *
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, scien ...
(UNESCO) *
Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...
(UPU) *
Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; , UEO; , WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (alliance) , Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implement ...
(WEU) (associate) *
World Customs Organization The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Notable projects include its collaboration with the WTO on trade facilitation and the implementation of the SAFE Framework of Standar ...
(WCO) *
World Federation of Trade Unions The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade union, trade unions established on October 3, 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the Int ...
(WFTU) *
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) *
World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...
(WIPO) *
World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
(WMO) *
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
(WTO)


Law and order in Iceland

Law of Iceland Law of Iceland during the Commonwealth (930–1262) was decided by the ''Alþingi'' (Althing). It has changed over the years, but the legislative body is still called the Althing. History Following the settlement of Iceland around the 870s, Ic ...
* Abortion in Iceland * Cannabis in Iceland *
Capital punishment in Iceland Capital punishment in Iceland was practiced until 1830, with 240 individuals executed between 1551 and 1830. The methods of execution included beheading, hanging, burning, and drowning. Danish laws were influential, particularly after Lutheranism ...
*
Constitution of Iceland The Constitution of Iceland (Icelandic language, Icelandic: ''Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands'' "Constitution of the republic of Iceland") is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the l ...
* Human rights in Iceland **
Freedom of religion in Iceland Freedom of religion in Iceland is guaranteed by the 64th article of the Constitution of Iceland. However at the same time the 62nd article states that the Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the national church (þjóðkirkja) and the national cur ...
**
LGBT rights in Iceland Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Iceland rank among the highest in the world. Icelandic culture is generally tolerant towards homosexuality and transgender individuals, and Reykjavík has a visible LGBT community. ...
**
Prostitution in Iceland Prostitution in Iceland is thriving despite paying for sex being illegal. The police have stated that they do not have the resources to enforce the law. Consequently, a vigilante group called "Stóra systir" ("Big Sister") has been formed. A r ...
— in 2009, the ''paying'' for sex was outlawed, criminalizing the clients, while ''selling'' sex remained decriminalized. *
Icelandic passport Icelandic passports () are issued to citizens of Iceland for the purpose of international travel. Beside serving as proof of Icelandic nationality law, Icelandic citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from List of diplomat ...
*
Icelandic identity card The Icelandic identity card (Icelandic language, Icelandic: ''Nafnskírteini''), is a voluntary identity document issued by Registers Iceland. It is one of three official identity documents issued by the Politics of Iceland, Icelandic Government, ...
* Icelandic driving licence * Law enforcement in Iceland **
National Police of Iceland In Iceland, the Police (, ) is the national police force of Iceland. It is responsible for law enforcement throughout the country, except in Icelandic territorial waters which fall under the jurisdiction of the Icelandic Coast Guard. Police affai ...
**
Víkingasveitin The Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner (), more commonly referred to as the Viking Squad (), is the police tactical unit of the Icelandic Police. The unit is in many ways modeled on the Delta tactical unit of the Norwegian Poli ...
''(The Viking Squad)''


Military of Iceland

Military of Iceland Iceland's defence forces consist of the Icelandic Coast Guard, which patrols Icelandic waters and monitors its airspace, and other services such as the National Commissioner's National Security and the Special Unit of the National Police Comm ...
*
Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard (, or simply ) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, national defense, and law enforcement. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland Air Defence ...
*
Iceland Air Defence System The Iceland Air Defence System () is a part of the Icelandic Coast Guard. It was founded in 1987 under the Radar Agency of the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs after an agreement between Iceland and the United States on the takeover by t ...
*
Icelandic Air Policing Icelandic Air Policing is a NATO operation conducted to patrol Iceland's airspace. As Iceland does not have an air force, in 2006 it requested that its NATO allies periodically deploy fighter aircraft to Keflavik Air Base to provide protection ...
*
Iceland Crisis Response Unit The Iceland Crisis Response Unit (ICRU; ) is an Icelandic para-military unit with a capacity roster of up to 200 people, of whom about 30 are active at any given time. It is operated by the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is primari ...
*
Víkingasveitin The Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner (), more commonly referred to as the Viking Squad (), is the police tactical unit of the Icelandic Police. The unit is in many ways modeled on the Delta tactical unit of the Norwegian Poli ...
: Equivalent to the American
SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
unit *
Military history of Iceland This is a brief overview of historical warfare and recent developments in Iceland. Iceland has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion and the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war. Settlement and commonwealth In the ...


History of Iceland


By period

*
Settlement of Iceland The settlement of Iceland ( ) is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the ninth century, when Norsemen, Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration are uncertain: later in the Middle Ages Icel ...
*
History of Icelandic nationality Iceland is an island country between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. Icelandic nationality is concerned with the conditions by which an individual is a national of Iceland. Icelandi ...
*
Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing () in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. W ...
*
Age of the Sturlungs The Age of the Sturlungs or the Sturlung Era ( ) was a 42-/44-year period of violent internal strife in mid-13th-century Iceland. It is documented in the '' Sturlunga saga''. This period is marked by the conflicts of local chieftains, '' goðar'' ...
*
Farthings of Iceland Historically, Iceland was divided into four farthings (''landsfjórðungar'', singular ''landsfjórðungur'') corresponding to the cardinal directions. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional ...
*
Christianisation of Iceland Iceland was Christianized in the year 1000 AD, when Christianity was legally adopted as the official religion by decision of the Althing. In Icelandic, this event is known as the (literally, "the taking of Christianity"). The vast majority of ...
*
Icelandic Reformation The Icelandic Reformation () took place in the middle of the 16th century. Iceland was at this time a territory ruled by Denmark-Norway, and Lutheran religious reform was imposed on the Icelanders by King Christian III of Denmark. Resistance t ...
* Danish-Icelandic Trade Monopoly *
New Iceland New Iceland ( ) is the name of a region on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba founded by Icelandic settlers in 1875. The community of Gimli, which is home to the largest concentration of Icelanders outside of Iceland, is seen as the core of New Icela ...
*
Kingdom of Iceland The Kingdom of Iceland (; ) was a sovereign and independent country under a constitutional and hereditary monarchy that was established by the Act of Union with Denmark signed on 1 December 1918. It lasted until 17 June 1944 when a national ...
*
Prohibition in Iceland Prohibition in Iceland went into effect in 1915 and lasted, to some extent, until 1 March 1989 (since celebrated as "Beer Day"). The ban had originally prohibited all alcohol, but from 1922 legalized wine and in 1935 legalized all alcoholic bevera ...
*
Iceland during World War II At the beginning of World War II, Iceland was a sovereign kingdom in personal union with Denmark, with King Christian X as head of state. Iceland officially remained neutral throughout World War II. However, the British invaded Iceland on 1 ...
**
Invasion of Iceland The United Kingdom invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940, during World War II using its Royal Navy and Royal Marines forces. The operation, codenamed Operation Fork, occurred because the British government feared that Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland woul ...
** Military operations in Scandinavia and Iceland during World War II *
Founding of the Republic of Iceland A constitutional referendum was held in Iceland between 20 and 23 May 1944.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p961 The 1918 Danish–Icelandic Act of Union declared Iceland to be a sovereign state s ...
* Iceland in the Cold War *
Iceland Defense Force The Iceland Defense Force (; IDF) was a military sub-unified command of the United States Department of Defense. It existed from 1951 to 2006. It came into existence when the United States agreed to provide for the defense of Iceland, which has ...
*
Accession of Iceland to the European Union Accession refers to the general idea of joining or adding to. It may also refer to: * Accession (property law) * Accession, the act of joining a treaty by a party that did not take part in its negotiations; see Vienna Convention on the Law of Tre ...
* 2010 Iceland power outages


By subject

* Agriculture in Iceland *
Economic history of Iceland The economy history of Iceland covers the development of its economy from the Settlement of Iceland in the late 9th century until the present. The field of economic history in Iceland According to a 2011 review study by economic historian Guð ...
*
History of the Jews in Iceland The history of the Jews in Iceland begins with the arrival of the first Jewish trader in 1625. In 2023, around 300 Jews were living in Iceland. The first rabbi to be permanently located in Iceland since 1918 moved to the country in 2018. The ...
*
Military history of Iceland This is a brief overview of historical warfare and recent developments in Iceland. Iceland has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion and the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war. Settlement and commonwealth In the ...
* Postage stamps and postal history of Iceland *
List of rulers of Iceland This is a list of heads of state of Iceland, including Kings of Norway from 1262 to 1814, Kings of Denmark from 1814 to 1918, the King of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 and Presidents of Iceland from 1944. Overview Iceland was settled in the la ...


Culture of Iceland

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Architecture of Iceland Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
** Icelandic turf houses **
List of tallest buildings in Iceland unt This is a list of the tallest buildings and structures in Iceland. Tallest buildings Tallest structures An incomplete list of the tallest structures in Iceland. This list contains all types of structures. Demolished This lists structures ...
**
List of tallest structures in Iceland unt This is a list of the tallest buildings and structures in Iceland. Tallest buildings Tallest structures An incomplete list of the tallest structures in Iceland. This list contains all types of structures. Demolished This lists structures ...
*
Icelandic cuisine The cuisine of Iceland has a long history. Important parts of Iceland, Icelandic cuisine are lamb, dairy, and Fish as food, fish, the latter because Iceland has traditionally been inhabited only near its coastline. Popular foods in Iceland incl ...
**
Beer in Iceland Beer in Iceland likely dates back to the island's settlement by Norsemen. In more modern history beer was effectively banned in Iceland for most of the 20th century. Since that ban was lifted in 1989, Iceland's consumption of beer has increased ...
* Festivals in Iceland **
Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival held annually in November in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 1999. Its main focus is showcasing new music, both Icelandic and international. Background The event is promoted and produced by Iceland Music Export ...
* Heraldry in Iceland *
Media of Iceland The mass media in Iceland are well-developed for a country of its size. The Constitution of Iceland guarantees absolute freedom of speech. Therefore, Iceland’s media are among the freest in the world. Iceland has been in the top ten of the Repo ...
*
Miss Iceland The Miss Iceland or Miss Universe Iceland () is a national beauty pageant in Iceland. Beginning in 2023, the winner represents Iceland at Miss Universe pageant. History The competition has been carried out since 1950; in the first year, it wa ...
*
Museums in Iceland This is a list of museums in Iceland. *Akranes Folk Museum *Akureyri Art Museum *Árbæjarsafn *Aurora Reykjavík *Aviation Museum of IcelandBorgarnes Museum Safnahús Borgarfjarðar *Bobby Fischer Center *Center for Icelandic Art *Duus Museum * ...
*
National and University Library of Iceland ( Icelandic: ; English: ''The National and University Library of Iceland'') is the national library of Iceland which also functions as the university library of the University of Iceland. The library was established on 1 December 1994 in Reykjav ...
* National symbols of Iceland **
Coat of arms of Iceland The coat of arms of Iceland displays a silver-edged, red cross on blue shield, alluding to the design of the flag of Iceland. It is the only national arms to feature four supporters: the four protectors of Iceland (''landvættir'') as described i ...
**
Flag of Iceland The flag of Iceland () was officially described in Law No. 34, set out on 17 June 1944, the day Iceland became a republic. The law is entitled "The Law of the National Flag of Icelanders and the State Arms" and describes the Icelandic flag as ...
*** List of flags of Iceland ** National anthem of Iceland *
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 ...
*
Prostitution in Iceland Prostitution in Iceland is thriving despite paying for sex being illegal. The police have stated that they do not have the resources to enforce the law. Consequently, a vigilante group called "Stóra systir" ("Big Sister") has been formed. A r ...
— in 2009, the ''paying'' for sex was outlawed, criminalizing the clients, while ''selling'' sex remained decriminalized. *
Public holidays in Iceland Public holidays in Iceland are established by the act of the Icelandic parliament''.'' The public holidays are the religious holidays of the Church of Iceland and the First Day of Summer, May Day, the Icelandic National Day. In addition, Christ ...
**
First Day of Summer First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
**
Icelandic National Day Icelandic National Day (, the day of the nation's celebration) is an annual holiday in Iceland which commemorates the foundation of The Republic of Iceland on 17 June 1944. This date also marks the end of Iceland's centuries-old ties with Denma ...
* Smoking in Iceland * Icelandic weddings *
World Heritage Sites in Iceland The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...


Art in Iceland

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Icelandic art Icelandic art has been built on northern European traditions of the nineteenth century, but developed in distinct directions in the twentieth century, influenced in particular by the unique Icelandic landscape as well as by Icelandic mythology ...
*
Cinema of Iceland 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 ...
**
List of Icelandic films The following is a list of notable films produced in Iceland by Icelanders. Star marked films are films in coproduction with Iceland. Although Arne Mattsson is Swedish, his film is included because it is based on a book by the Icelandic Nobel Prize ...
**
List of Icelandic submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Iceland has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1981. The first film to be sent to AMPAS by Iceland was ''Land and Sons'' which was released in Iceland in 1980. Since then, Iceland has sent in a film ev ...
*
Icelandic cuisine The cuisine of Iceland has a long history. Important parts of Iceland, Icelandic cuisine are lamb, dairy, and Fish as food, fish, the latter because Iceland has traditionally been inhabited only near its coastline. Popular foods in Iceland incl ...
**
Þorramatur Þorramatur (; transliterated as thorramatur; ) is a selection of traditional Icelandic food, consisting mainly of meat and fish products cured in a traditional manner, cut into slices or pieces and served with rúgbrauð (dense and dark r ...
*
Icelandic literature Icelandic literature refers to literature written in Iceland or by Icelandic people. It is best known for the sagas written in medieval times, starting in the 13th century. As Icelandic and Old Norse are almost the same, and because Icelandic wo ...
** List of Icelandic-language poets **
List of Icelandic writers Iceland has a rich literary history, which has carried on into the modern period. Some of the best known examples of Icelandic literature are the Sagas of Icelanders. These are prose narratives based on historical events that took place in Icela ...
*
Music of Iceland The music of Iceland includes folk and pop traditions, as well as an active classical and contemporary music scene. Well-known artists from Iceland include medieval music group Voces Thules, alternative pop band The Sugarcubes, singers Björk, L ...
** List of Icelandic composers **
Icelandic folk music Icelandic folk music includes a number of styles that are together a prominent part of the music of Iceland. When speaking of traditional Icelandic vocal music, there are two prominent vocal performance styles, one using the term ''kveða'' and ...
** Icelandic hip hop ** Icelandic rock **
List of bands from Iceland This is a list of musical bands from the country of Iceland. For listing of singers from Iceland, see List of Icelandic singers. For singer-songwriters from Iceland, see List of singer-songwriters#Iceland __NOTOC__ 0-9 * 200.000 naglbítar A ...
* Television in Iceland


Language in Iceland

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Languages of Iceland Iceland has been a very isolated and linguistically homogeneous island historically, but has nevertheless been home to several languages. Gaelic languages, Gaelic was the native language to many of the early Icelanders. Although the Icelandic l ...
**
Icelandic language Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national languag ...
*** History of Icelandic ***
Icelandic exonyms The following is a list of Icelandic exonyms, that is to say names for places in Icelandic that have been adapted to Icelandic spelling rules, translated into Icelandic, or Old Norse exonyms surviving in Icelandic. Commonly pronunciation is clos ...
***
Icelandic grammar Icelandic grammar is the set of structural rules that describe the use of the Icelandic language. Icelandic is a heavily inflected language. Icelandic nouns are assigned to one of three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, or neuter), an ...
***
Icelandic Literary Society The Icelandic Literary Society (), founded in 1816, is an organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening Icelandic language Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-E ...
***
Icelandic name Icelandic names are names used by people from Iceland. Icelandic surnames are different from most other naming systems in the modern Western world in that they are patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) o ...
****
Icelandic Naming Committee The Icelandic Naming Committee (; pronounced )—also known in English as the Personal Names Committee—maintains an official register of approved Icelandic given names and governs the introduction of new given names into Icelandic culture. C ...
***
Icelandic orthography Icelandic orthography uses a Latin-script alphabet which has 32 letters. Compared with the 26 letters of the English alphabet, the Icelandic alphabet lacks C, Q, W, and Z, but additionally has Ð, Þ, Æ, and Ö. Six letters have forms with acute ...
***
Icelandic phonology Unlike many languages, Icelandic has only very minor dialectal differences in sounds. The language has both monophthongs and diphthongs, and many consonants can be voiced or unvoiced. Icelandic has an aspiration contrast between plosives, rat ...
***
Linguistic purism in Icelandic Linguistic purism in Icelandic is the policy of discouraging new loanwords from entering the Icelandic language by instead creating new words from Old Icelandic roots or, when that is not possible, from Old Norse roots. The effort began during ...
****
High Icelandic Linguistic purism in Icelandic is the policy of discouraging new loanwords from entering the Icelandic language by instead creating new words from Old Icelandic roots or, when that is not possible, from Old Norse roots. The effort began during ...
*** Icelandic vocabulary **
Icelandic Sign Language Icelandic Sign Language () is the sign language of the deaf community in Iceland. It is based on Danish Sign Language; until 1910, deaf Icelandic people were sent to school in Denmark, but the languages have diverged since then. It is officially ...


Religion in Iceland

Religion in Iceland Religion in Iceland has been predominantly Christianity since its adoption as the state religion by the Althing under the influence of Olaf Tryggvason, the king of Norway, in 999/1000 CE. Until then, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the preva ...
* Icelandic funeral * Religions in Iceland **
Christianity in Iceland Religion in Iceland has been predominantly Christianity since its adoption as the state religion by the Althing under the influence of Olaf Tryggvason, the king of Norway, in 999/1000 CE. Until then, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the prevaili ...
***
Church of Iceland The Church of Iceland (), officially the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (), is the State religion, national church of Iceland. The church is Christian and professes the Lutheranism, Lutheran faith. It is a member of the Lutheran World ...
***
Roman Catholicism in Iceland The Catholic Church in Iceland () is part of the Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope. The island is served by a single diocese, the Diocese of Reykjavík, having a total of seven parishes. , the ordinary is bishop Dávid B ...
** Neopaganism in Iceland ** Bahá'í Faith in Iceland **
Buddhism in Iceland Buddhism in Iceland is followed by 0.43% of the population of Iceland, according to the 2021 Census. Buddhism has existed since the 1990s after immigration from countries with Buddhist populations, mainly Thailand. As of 2008, there are three B ...
**
Islam in Iceland Islam in Iceland is a minority religion. The Pew Research Center estimated that the number of Muslims in Iceland was below its 10,000 minimum threshold, and official statistics put the figure at under 1,300, or 0.33% out of the total populati ...
** Judaism in Iceland ***
History of the Jews in Iceland The history of the Jews in Iceland begins with the arrival of the first Jewish trader in 1625. In 2023, around 300 Jews were living in Iceland. The first rabbi to be permanently located in Iceland since 1918 moved to the country in 2018. The ...


Sport in Iceland

Sport in Iceland Sports in Iceland are very popular. Popular sports include association football, football, handball, sport of athletics, athletics, basketball, :Chess in Iceland, chess, golf, volleyball, tennis, skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, swimming (spor ...
*
Icelandic Chess Championship The Icelandic Chess Championship is usually held in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It is organised by the Icelandic Chess Federation (ICF), the body responsible for holding national chess events and for representing Icelandic chess at the World ...
* Cricket in Iceland *
Iceland at the Paralympics Iceland made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, where it fielded thirteen athletes, who won two medals (a gold and a silver). Since then, the country has competed in every edition of the Summer Paralympics. Despit ...
*
Icelandic records in athletics The following are the national records in athletics in Iceland maintained by its national athletics federation: Frjálsíþróttasamband Íslands (FRÍ). Outdoor Key to tables: Men Women Mixed Indoor Men Women Notes References ...
*
Strength athletics in Iceland Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back to – 1056, with sagas about Orm Storolfsson, Finnbogi ...
*
Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur (, ), commonly known as ÍR, is an Icelandic multi-sport club, based in the suburb of Breiðholt in Reykjavík. It has teams in football, handball, basketball, athletics, tenpin bowling, skiing, karate, taekwondo and ...


Olympics

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Iceland at the Olympics Athletes from Iceland first participated at the Olympic Games in 1908.Iceland ...


Baseball


Basketball

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Iceland men's national basketball team The Iceland men's national basketball team () represents Iceland in international basketball tournaments. The team is controlled by the Icelandic Basketball Association. Iceland has qualified for the EuroBasket three times in their history, wi ...
*
Iceland women's national basketball team The Iceland women's national basketball team represents Iceland in international women's basketball tournaments. They are controlled by the Icelandic Basketball Association. Competitive record Championship for Small Countries Games of the S ...


Football

* Australian rules football in Iceland *
Football Association of Iceland The Football Association of Iceland (, , KSÍ) is the governing body of football in Iceland. It was founded on 26 March 1947, joined FIFA the same year, and UEFA in 1954. It organises the football league, Úrvalsdeild, and the Iceland men's nat ...
*
Icelandic football league system The Icelandic football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Iceland. a fifth level was added to the previous men's format of four levels. there are 79 participating men's teams and 27 women's teams in the footb ...
*
List of football clubs in Iceland The following list contains the 74 football clubs playing in the Icelandic football league system. League clubs 2025 Úrvalsdeild 1. deild karla 2. deild karla 3. deild karla 4. deild karla 5. deild karla Group A Group ...
*
List of football stadiums in Iceland This is a list of Association football, football stadiums in Iceland, ordered by capacity (seating only). See also *Football in Iceland *List of football clubs in Iceland *List of stadiums in the Nordic countries by capacity *List of European s ...
* National football teams **
Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team () represents Iceland in men's international Association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland, and have been a FIFA member since 1947 and a UEFA member since 1957. ...
**
Iceland national under-17 football team The Iceland national under-17 football team represents Iceland in international football at this age level and is controlled by Knattspyrnusamband Íslands (KSÍ), the governing body for football in Iceland. History in the UEFA European Under-1 ...
**
Iceland women's national football team The Iceland women's national football team () represents Iceland in international women's football. They are currently ranked as the 13th best women's national team in the world by FIFA as of March 2025. History The Iceland women's national fo ...


Handball

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Icelandic Handball Association The Icelandic Handball Association ( or ''HSÍ'') is the national governing body for handball in Iceland. It is based in Reykjavík. Club handball The federation organizes the national handball leagues for both men and women club teams and the ...
*
Iceland men's national handball team The Icelandic men's national handball team represents Iceland in international men's handball. It is controlled by the Icelandic Handball Association. Honours Competitive record Champions   Runners-up   Third place& ...


Ice hockey

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Ice Hockey Iceland The Ice Hockey union of Iceland () is the governing body of ice hockey in Iceland. Competitions *Men's **Icelandic Men's Hockey League *Women's **Icelandic Women's Hockey League National teams Iceland men * Iceland men's national ice hockey t ...
*
Icelandic Hockey League The Icelandic Men's Hockey League () is an ice hockey league in Iceland. It currently has four active teams. It is run by Ice Hockey Iceland. History Hockey was first played in Iceland in around 1950, on ponds and rivers. The weather made it ver ...
* Icelandic national ice hockey team *
Iceland women's national ice hockey team The Icelandic women's national ice hockey team represents Iceland at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Women's Ice Hockey Championship Division IIB. The women's national team is controlled by Ice Hockey Iceland. As of 2011, Iceland ...


Rowing

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Fiann Paul Fiann Paul (born Paweł Pietrzak; 15 August 1980) is a Polish-Icelandic explorer known for his exploits in ocean rowing. Paul is the fastest ocean rower (2016) and the most record-breaking ocean rower (2017). In 2019, he led the first human-p ...


Tennis

* Iceland Davis Cup team * Iceland Fed Cup team


Sports personalities

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen *
Heiðar Helguson Heiðar Helguson (; born 22 August 1977) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a striker. Heiðar started his career in the Icelandic league system, with UMFS Dalvík and Þróttur. Following a one-season spell in Norw ...
, professional footballer, currently at
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
*
Hermann Hreiðarsson Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional football player and coach. He played as a defender and spent 15 seasons in England, gaining a total of 315 appearances in the Premier League. Hermann was relegated fr ...
*
Jón Páll Sigmarsson Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's S ...
*
Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen o ...
*
Ólafur Stefánsson Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson (born 3 July 1973) is an Icelandic former handball player who, for many years was the captain of the Iceland men's national handball team but announced his international retirement after the 2012 London Olympics. H ...
* Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir


Economy and infrastructure of Iceland

Economy of Iceland The economy of Iceland is small and subject to high volatility. In 2011, the gross domestic product was US$12 billion, but by 2018 it had increased to a nominal GDP of US$27 billion. With a population of 387,000, this is $55,000 per capita, based ...
* Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 92nd (ninety-second) * 2008–2012 Icelandic financial crisis * Agriculture in Iceland **
Whaling in Iceland Whaling in Iceland began with spear-drift hunting as early as the 12th century, and continued in a vestigial form until the late 19th century, when other countries introduced modern commercial practices. Today, Iceland is one of a handful of coun ...
*
Banking in Iceland Banking in Iceland faced a crisis in 2008, which resulted in the government taking over three of its largest commercial banks. The short-term liabilities of Icelandic banks in proportion to Iceland's GDP are 211%, as of 11 October 2008, or 480% o ...
**
Banks of Iceland The following is a list of banks in Iceland. Contemporary banks Central * Central Bank of Iceland Commercial * Arion Bank (formerly known as ''New Kaupthing'') * Íslandsbanki (formerly known as ''New Glitnir'') * Landsbankinn (formerly ...
***
Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland (, ) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It is owned by the Icelandic government, and is administered by a governor and a seven-member supervisory board, elected by the country's parliament following ea ...
***
National Bank of Iceland Landsbanki (, ), also commonly known as Landsbankinn (, ) was one of the largest Icelandic commercial banks; it failed as part of the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis when its subsidiary sparked the Icesave dispute. On October 7, 2008, th ...
* Communications in Iceland **
List of newspapers in Iceland Iceland currently has a single daily newspaper in print, along with other less frequently published national and local newspapers. The number of national daily newspapers in Iceland was just five in 1950 through 1965. In the 21st century, many loca ...
**
List of postal codes in Iceland Postal codes in Iceland are made up of three digits and were introduced in 1977. The codes are followed by the name of the place where the post is being distributed, which is either a municipality, the nearest city, town or village. The total nu ...
**
Telecommunications in Iceland Telecommunications in Iceland is a diversified market. Iceland has a highly developed telecommunications sector with modern infrastructure. Multiple wholesale and retail providers are operated in a competitive market. As of 2024, Iceland's teleco ...
***
Internet in Iceland Iceland is among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. 99.68% of Icelanders used the internet in 2021. As of June 2024, Iceland is listed 6th in the world for fixed access download speeds according to Speedtest. ...
**
Telephone numbers in Iceland Telephone numbers in Iceland are seven digits long and generally written in the form xxx xxxx or xxx-xxxx and the E.123 format specifies +354 xxx xxxx from abroad since the Country calling code, country code is +354. There are no area codes in ...
* Companies of Iceland ** List of companies of Iceland ** Companies listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange *Currency of Iceland: Króna **
ISO 4217 ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that defines alpha codes and numeric codes for the representation of currencies and provides information about the relationships between individ ...
: ISK *
Economic history of Iceland The economy history of Iceland covers the development of its economy from the Settlement of Iceland in the late 9th century until the present. The field of economic history in Iceland According to a 2011 review study by economic historian Guð ...
*
Energy in Iceland Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of the electricity in Iceland's Electrical grid, electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is deri ...
** 2010 Iceland power outages **
Iceland Deep Drilling Project The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is a geothermal project established in 2000 by a consortium of the National Energy Authority of Iceland (Orkustofnun/OS) and four of Iceland's leading energy companies: Hitaveita Suðurnesja (HS), Landsvirk ...
** Power stations in Iceland ***
Icelandic hydroelectric power stations Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of the electricity in Iceland's electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestic ...
**
Renewable energy in Iceland Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of the electricity in Iceland's electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domesti ...
***
Geothermal power in Iceland Geothermal power in Iceland refers to the use of geothermal energy in Iceland for electricity generation. Iceland's uniquely active geology has led to natural conditions especially suitable for harnessing geothermal energy. Icelanders have long u ...
* Healthcare in Iceland ** Emergency medical services in Iceland ** List of hospitals in Iceland *
National parks of Iceland Since 2008, Iceland has three national parks. Prior to 2008 there were four national parks in Iceland; in that year Jökulsárgljúfur National Park, Jökulsárgljúfur and Skaftafell National Park, Skaftafell were merged and incorporated into Va ...
*
Iceland Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Iceland, formerly known as the Iceland Stock Exchange (ICEX) ( ), is a stock exchange for Icelandic bonds and equities. Companies in sectors such as retail, fishing, transportation, banking and real estate are listed on the exchange. ...
*
Tourism in Iceland Tourism in Iceland has grown considerably in economic significance in the past 15 years. As of 2016, the tourism industry is estimated to contribute about 10 percent to the Icelandic GDP; the number of foreign visitors exceeded 2,000,000 for the ...
* Trade unions ** Confederation of State and Municipal Employees of Iceland **
Icelandic Federation of Labour Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic orthography *Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (disambiguation) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandai ...
*
Transport in Iceland The modes of transport in Iceland are governed by the country's rugged terrain and sparse population. The principal mode of personal transport is the car. There are no public railways, although there are bus services. Domestic flights serve pla ...
**
Airports in Iceland This is a list of airports in Iceland. There are no railways in Iceland. Driving from Reykjavík to Akureyri takes 4–5 hours compared to 45 minutes flight time, driving from Reykjavík to Egilsstaðir takes 9 hours compared to 1 hour flight ti ...
**
Rail transport in Iceland As of 2025, Iceland has no public railway system, although there have been three small short-lived railways in the past. The main reasons for the lack of railways are the small population outside the Capital Region (Iceland), capital region, the av ...
- Iceland has no public rail system. **
Roads in Iceland This article covers road transportation in Iceland. History As late as 1900 Iceland had only a few miles of roading suitable for wheeled transport, mostly located in the southern regions of the island. A network of bridle paths permitted trave ...
*** Highway system of Iceland *** Road signs in Iceland ***
Speed limits in Iceland The general speed limit for cars in Iceland is in urban areas, on rural gravel roads and on paved rural roads. It is allowed to set higher speed limits up to if deemed safe and necessary for traffic flow but no road actually has higher than th ...
*** Street names in Iceland *** Tunnels in Iceland **
Vehicle registration plates of Iceland In Iceland, vehicle registration plates are issued by the Icelandic Transport Authority. The plates are made of aluminium with reflective base and embossed characters. There are eleven different styles corresponding to the vehicle's type and tax ...


Education in Iceland

Education in Iceland The system of education in Iceland is divided in four levels: playschool, compulsory, upper secondary and higher, and is similar to that of other Nordic countries. Education is mandatory for children aged 6–16. Most institutions are funded by t ...
* Academic grading in Iceland * Icelandic Student Loan Fund *
List of schools in Iceland This is a list of schools in Iceland, which encompasses institutions from Nursery school, playschool to Gymnasium (school), gymnasium. Playschools Nursery school, Playschool is non-compulsory education for those under the age of six and is the fir ...
*
Universities in Iceland This is a list of universities in Iceland. Universities and colleges There are seven universities in Iceland as defined by law. No distinction is made between research universities and other tertiary colleges. Both types are referred to as "hásk ...
**
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...
***
National and University Library of Iceland ( Icelandic: ; English: ''The National and University Library of Iceland'') is the national library of Iceland which also functions as the university library of the University of Iceland. The library was established on 1 December 1994 in Reykjav ...


See also

* Asteroid 110299 Iceland named after the island in 2018 * Index of Iceland-related articles *
List of international rankings This is a list of international rankings by country. By category Agriculture * Production **Apple ** Apricot ** Artichoke ** Avocado **Barley **Cereal ** Cherry **Coconut ** Coffee ** Corn ** Cucumber **Eggplant **Fruit ** Garlic **Grape ** Papay ...
* Member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization * Member state of the United Nations


References


External links


Gateway to Iceland

Government Offices of Iceland

Icelandic Government Information Center
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iceland Iceland, Iceland-related lists, Outlines of countries, Iceland Outlines