Republic of Iceland

National name: Lydveldid Island

President: Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (2004)

Prime Minister: Geir H. Haarde (2006)

Land area: 38,707 sq mi (100,251 sq km); total area: 39,769 sq mi (103,000 sq km)1

Population (2006 est.): 299,388 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 13.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.3/1000; life expectancy: 80.3; density per sq mi: 8

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Reykjavik, 184,200 (metro. area), 114,800 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Icelandic króna

Languages: Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken

Ethnicity/race: homogeneous mixture of Norse/Celtic descendants 94%, population of foreign origin 6%

Religions: Lutheran Church of Iceland 85.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.1%, Roman Catholic Church 2%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.5%, other Christian 2.7%, other or unspecified 3.8%, unaffiliated 2.4% (2004)

Literacy rate: 100% (1997 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $10.34 billion; per capita $34,900. Real growth rate: 6.5%. Inflation: 4.1%. Unemployment: 2.1%. Arable land: 0.07%. Agriculture: potatoes, green vegetables; mutton, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 165,900; agriculture, fishing and fish processing 10.3%, industry 18.3%, services 71.4% (2003). Industries: fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production; geothermal power, tourism. Natural resources: fish, hydropower, geothermal power, diatomite. Exports: $3.215 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): fish and fish products 70%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite. Imports: $4.582 billion (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs, textiles. Major trading partners: UK, Germany, Netherlands, U.S., Spain, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 190,700 (2003); mobile cellular: 279,100 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 14 (plus 156 low-power repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 122,175 (2004). Internet users: 195,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 13,004 km; paved: 4,331 km; unpaved: 8,673 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Grundartangi, Hafnarfjordur, Hornafjordhur, Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur. Airports: 98 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Iceland disputes Denmark's alignment of the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm.

 

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