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  • Main languages: Icelandic.

    Main religions: Evangelical Lutheran Church (85 per cent); Evangelical Lutheran Free Churches (3.5 per cent); Roman Catholic Church (1,1 per cent); Pentecostal and Charismatic Congregations (1.0 per cent); and others (1.2 per cent); a final 2.0 per cent. of the population is not affiliated to any religion.

    The people of Iceland are an extremely homogeneous population, virtually all of whom are descended from Celts and Scandinavians. In 2004, 20,669 people (7 per cent of the total population) who were living in Iceland had been born abroad, including the children of Icelandic parents. Another 10,636 people (3.6 per cent of the total population) had foreign citizenship. The most numerous foreign nationalities are Poles (1,903), Danes (890), citizens of the Yugoslav successor states (670), Filipinos (647) and Germans (540). There are no indigenous minority groups.

  • Environment

    Iceland is a volcanic island located in the North Atlantic between Greenland, Norway, Great Britain and Ireland. Iceland is Europe’s most sparsely populated country with an average of about three inhabitants per square km. Almost four-fifths of its territory is uninhabitable, the population being concentrated along a narrow coastal belt in the south-west corner of the country.

    History

    The Republic of Iceland was uninhabited until the ninth century CE, when Irish hermits settled there. The first Norwegian settlement dates from CE 874. The Althingi, the world’s oldest functioning legislative assembly, was established in the year 930 AD. In 1264 the independent republic of Iceland became part of the Kingdom of Norway. In 1381 Iceland and Norway were conquered by Denmark. When Norway separated from the Danish Crown in 1814, Iceland remained under Denmark’s protection. In 1918 Iceland became an associated state of Denmark until it recovered its independence in 1944. Iceland has a strong economy, low unemployment and low inflation.

    Governance

    Iceland is a republic, has a written constitution and a parliamentary form of government. Elections for the office of presidency, parliament and town councils are all held every four years, the most recent in 2004, 2003 and 2006, respectively.

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