Iceland |
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Last reviewed: 16 May 2011
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Area: 103,000 sq km (39,769 sq miles)
Population: 323,000 (UN 2009)
Capital City: Reykjavik (Population 120,165 – Oct 2008)
People: Icelanders
Languages: Icelandic
Religion(s): Christianity - Evangelical Lutheran, Protestant, Roman Catholic
Currency: Icelandic Krona
Major political parties: Social Democratic Alliance (SDA) led by PM Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir; Left-Green Movement led by Finance Minister Steingrímur Sigfússon; Independence Party (conservatives) led by Bjarni Benediktsson; Progressive Party (centrist liberals) led by Sigmundur D Gunnlaugsson
Political System: Constitutional Republic
Government: Centre Left coalition of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement – since May 2009 (last election 25 April 2009)
National Day: 17 June (Inauguration of the Republic of Iceland 1944 – union with Denmark terminated 16 June 1944)
National Anthem: Ó, Guð vors lands ('O, God of Our Land')
Head of State: President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson (since 1996)
Prime Minister: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (SDA) (Since February 2009)
Foreign Minister: Össur Skarphéðinsson (SDA) (since February 2009)
Membership of many international groupings/organisations including: Arctic Council, Barents Euro-Arctic Council, Council for Baltic Sea States, Council of Europe, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Economic Area, European Free Trade Association, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Authority, International Criminal Court, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organisation, Interpol, Intelsat, International Whaling Commission, NATO, OSCE, OSPAR, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, Nordic Council of Ministers (Chair in 2009), Schengen, UN, Western European Union (associate), World Trade Organisation.
A list of the principal International Organizations of which Iceland is a member is available on the Icelandic MFA‘s homepage.
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