ICELAND |
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The Republic of
Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean, located between
Greenland and Scotland, northwest of the Faroe Islands.
Politics
Iceland's parliament, Alþingi, was originally founded in 930 and it has
operated since then in several different forms except for a 45 year period
in the 19th century. It has 63 members, each of whom is elected by the
population every four years. The president of Iceland is a largely
ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat, figurehead and head of state.
The head of government is the prime minister, who, together with his cabinet,
takes care of the executive part of government. The cabinet is appointed by
the president after general elections to Alþingi; however, this process is
usually conducted by the leaders of the political parties, who decide what
parties will form the cabinet and how the seats are distributed (under the
condition that it has a majority support in Alþingi). |
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Only when the party
leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in reasonable time
does the president exercise this power and appoint the cabinet himself. This
has only happened once, in 1942, and that was actually before the republic
was founded, although the regent, Sveinn Björnsson, who had been appointed
in 1941, later went on to become the country's first president. The
governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more
parties involved, since a single political party has rarely received a
majority of seats in Alþingi. The extent of the political powers possessed
by the office of the president are disputed by legal scholars in Iceland;
several provisions of the constitution appear to give the president some
important powers but other provisions and traditions suggest otherwise.
The president is elected every four years (last 2004), the cabinet is
elected every four years (last 2003) and town council elections are held
every four years too (last 2002).
Administrative division
There are 104 municipalities in Iceland that govern most local matters like
schools, transportation and zoning.
Counties
The 23 counties are mostly a historic division. Today Iceland is split up
between 26 Magistrates that are the highest authority over the local police
(except in Reykjavík where there is a special office of police commissioner)
and carry out administrative functions such as declaring bankruptcy and
marrying people outside of the church.
Demographics
The isolated location of Iceland has resulted in limited immigration and
limited genetic inflow in its human population over hundreds of 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 Lutheran.
Culture
Some famous Icelanders include pop singer Björk; avant-garde rock band Sigur
Rós; and novelist Halldór Laxness, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature
in 1955. |
