Iceland

From Wikinfo

The Republic of Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean, located between Greenland and Great Britain, northwest of the Faroe Islands.

L��veldi� �sland

National motto: None

Official language

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

Prime minister

Geir H. Haarde

Area
- Total
- % water

Ranked 104th
103,125 km2
2.7%

Population
- Total (2002)
- Density

Ranked 169th
288,201
2,79/km2

June 17, 1944

UTC

.IS

354

History

Main article: History of Iceland

Iceland was first settled by Norwegians and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th century. It boasts the world's oldest parliament, the Althing, which was established in 930.

Iceland remained independent for over 300 years, and was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Limited home rule was granted in 1874, and independence followed in 1918. The Danish king remained the sovereign until 1944, when a republic was founded.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Iceland

Iceland has a left-right multi-party system. The biggest party is the right wing Independence Party (’’Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn’’), while the second largest one is the social democratic Alliance (‘’Samfylkingin’’). Following the May 2007 parliamentary elections, these two formed a coalition, enjoying a strong majority in Althing, with 43 out of 63 members supporting it.

Other political parties that have a seat in Althing are the centrist Progressive Party (‘’Framsóknarflokkurinn’’), which had been in government with the Independence Party for 12 years before the 2007 election, the Left-Green Movement (‘’Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð’’), founded in 1999, and the Centre-right Liberal Party. Many other parties exist on the municipal level, most of which only run locally in a single municipality.

Counties and towns

Main article: Counties of Iceland

The traditional counties are:

The 25 independent towns are:

Geography

Main article: Geography of Iceland

Image:Iceland-map.jpg

Iceland is located on a geological hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It has many active volcanoes, notably the Hekla, and around 10% of the island is glaciated. Iceland has many geysers (itself an Icelandic word) and the widespread availability of geothermal power means residents of most towns have hot water and home heat for a low price.

The island itself has many fjords along the coastline, were also most cities are situated. The main towns are the capital [[Reykjav�k]], Keflavik, where the national airport is situated, and Akureyri.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iceland

Iceland is the fourth most productive country in the world by nominal gross domestic product per capita (54,858 USD), and the fifth most productive by GDP at purchasing power parity (40,112 USD). Except for its abundant hydro-electric and geothermal power, Iceland lacks natural resources; historically its economy depended heavily on the fishing industry, which still provides almost 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products, aluminium, and ferrosilicon. Although the Icelandic economy still relies heavily on fishing, its importance is diminishing as the travel industry and other service, technology and various other industries grow. Economic growth slowed from 2000 to 2002, but the economy expanded by 4.3% in 2003 and 6.2% in 2004. The unemployment rate of ~1.0% (2007 est.) is among the lowest in the European Economic Area.

Although Iceland is a very developed country, it is still one of the most newly-industrialized ones in Europe. Until the 20th century, it was probably the poorest country in Western Europe. The fast economic growth that it has experienced in the last decades is only recently allowing for upgrading of infrastructure such as transportation. The government coalition plans to continue its generally neo-liberal policies of reducing the budget and current account deficits, limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, diversifying the economy, and privatising state-owned industries. The government remains opposed to EU membership, primarily because of Icelanders' concern about losing control over their fishing resources.

Iceland's economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, including software production, biotechnology, and financial services. The tourism sector is expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and whale-watching. Iceland's agriculture industry consists mainly of potatoes, turnips, green vegetables (in greenhouses), mutton and dairy products.[25] The financial center is Borgartún in Reykjavik, hosting a large number of companies and three investment banks. Iceland's stock market, the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE), was established in 1985.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Iceland

The isolated location of Iceland has resulted in limited immigration and limited genetic inflow in its human population over thousand years. The resulting genetic similarity is being exploited today for genetic studies.

The language spoken is Icelandic, a Scandinavian language, and the religion is predominantly Christian, most being in the national Lutheran Church.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Iceland

Icelandic culture has its roots in Norse traditions. Icelandic literature is popular, in particular the sagas and eddas which were written around the time of the island’s settlement. Icelanders place relatively great importance on independence and self-sufficiency; in a European Commission public opinion analysis over 85% of Icelanders found independence to be "very important" contrasted with the EU25 average of 53%, and 47% for the Norwegians, and 49% for the Danes.

Some traditional beliefs remain today; for example, some Icelanders either believe in elves or are unwilling to rule out their existence. Iceland ranks first on the Human Development Index, and was recently ranked the fourth happiest country in the world.

Iceland is liberal in terms of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) matters. In 1996, Parliament passed legislation to create registered partnerships for same-sex couples, covering nearly all the rights and benefits of marriage. In 2006, by unanimous vote of Parliament, further legislation was passed, granting same-sex couples the same rights as different-sex couples in adoption, parenting and assisted insemination treatment.

Icelandic architecture draws from Scandinavian influences. The scarcity of native trees resulted in traditional houses being covered by grass and turf.

Some famous Icelanders include pop singer Björk and novelist Halldór Laxness, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955.

Literature and the arts

Main articles: Icelandic literature and Art of Iceland

Image:Steinn steinarr1.jpg

The poet Steinn Steinarr. by Einar Hákonarson.

Iceland's best-known classical works of literature are the Icelanders' sagas, prose epics set in Iceland's age of settlement. The most famous of these include Njáls saga, about an epic blood feud, and Grœnlendinga saga and Eiríks saga, describing the discovery and settlement of Greenland and Vinland (modern Newfoundland). Egils saga, Laxdæla saga, Grettis saga, Gísla saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu are also notable and popular Icelanders' sagas.

A great translation of the Bible was published in the 16th century. Important compositions since the 15th to the 19th century include sacred verse, most famously the Passíusálmar of Hallgrímur Pétursson, and rímur, rhymed epic poems with alliterative verse that consist in two to four verses per stanza, popular until the end of the 19th century. In recent times, Iceland has produced many great writers, the best-known of which is arguably Halldór Laxness who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955. Steinn Steinarr was an influential modernist poet.

The distinctive rendition of the Icelandic landscape by its painters can be linked to nationalism and the movement to home rule and independence, which was very active in this period.

Contemporary Icelandic painting is typically traced to the work of Þórarinn Þorláksson, who, following formal training in art in the 1890s in Copenhagen, returned to Iceland to paint and exhibit works from 1900 to his death in 1924, almost exclusively portraying the Icelandic landscape. Several other Icelandic men and women artists learned in Denmark Academy at that time, including Ásgrímur Jónsson, who together with Þórarinn created a distinctive portrayal of Iceland's landscape in a romantic naturalistic style. Other landscape artists quickly followed in the footsteps of Þórarinn and Ásgrímur. These included Jóhannes Kjarval and Júlíana Sveinsdóttir. Kjarval in particular is noted for the distinct techniques in the application of paint that he developed in a concerted effort to render the characteristic volcanic rock that dominates the Icelandic environment. Einar Hákonarson is an expressionistic and figurative painter who brought the figure back into Icelandic painting.

Icelandic architecture draws from Scandinavian influences. The scarcity of native trees resulted in traditional houses being covered by grass and turf.

Music

Main article: Music of Iceland

Icelandic music is related to Nordic music, and includes vibrant folk and pop traditions, including medieval music group Voces Thules, alternative rock band The Sugarcubes, singers Björk and Emiliana Torrini; and Sigur Rós. The national anthem of Iceland is "Lofsöngur", written by Matthías Jochumsson, with music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson .^[1]

Björk is one of the most famous people from Iceland.

Traditional Icelandic music is strongly religious. Hallgrímur Pétursson wrote many Protestant hymns in the 17th century. Icelandic music was modernized in the 19th century, when Magnús Stephensen brought pipe organs, which were followed by harmoniums.

Other vital traditions of Icelandic music are epic alliterative and rhyming ballads called rímur. Rímur are epic tales, usually a cappella, which can be traced back to skaldic poetry, using complex metaphors and elaborate rhyme schemes. The best known rímur poet of the 19th century was Sigurður Breiðfjörð (1798-1846). A modern revitalization of the tradition began in 1929 with the formation of the organization Iðunn .^[2]

Icelandic contemporary music consists of a big group of bands, ranging from pop-rock groups such as Bang Gang, Quarashi and Amiina to solo ballad singers like Bubbi Morthens, Megas and Björgvin Halldórsson. The indie-scene is also very strong in Iceland, bands such as Múm, Sigur Rós and the solo artist Mugison are fairly well-known outside Iceland.

Many Icelandic artists and bands have had great success internationally, most notably Björk and Sigur Rós but also Quarashi, Ampop, Mínus and múm. The main music festival is arguably Iceland Airwaves, a yearly event on the Icelandic music scene, where Icelandic bands along with foreign ones occupy the clubs of Reykjavík for a week.

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Media

See also: Media in Iceland and cinema of Iceland

Iceland’s largest television stations are the state-run Sjónvarpið and the privately owned Stöð 2 and Skjár einn. Smaller stations exist, many of them local. Radio is broadcast throughout the country, including some parts of the interior. The main radio stations are Rás 1, Rás 2 and Bylgjan. The daily newspapers are Morgunblaðið, Fréttablaðið and 24 stundir. Icelanders are a very technologically advanced nation and a large proportion of them keep a blog. The most popular websites are the news sites Vísir and Mbl.is. ^[3]

Iceland is home to the television station Nick Jr.'s animated program LazyTown (Icelandic: Latibær), a children's television program created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a very popular program for children and adults, and is shown in over 98 countries, including the UK, Canada, Sweden, the US and Latin America.^[4] The LazyTown Studios are located in Garðabær.

Miscellaneous topics

External links

Nordic Council:

Denmark | Finland | Iceland | Norway | Sweden

Åland Islands | Faroe Islands | Greenland

Countries of the world | Europe

References

Adapted from the Wikpedia article, "Iceland" www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland July 14, 2003

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