iceland

=Iceland= By Natasha Natamihardja

__Fast facts__

 * Area:**103, 000 sq km
 * Population:**311, 396
 * Capital City:**Reykjavik
 * Language**:Icelandic
 * National Anthem:**Lofsongur
 * Currency:**Icelandic Krona
 * Head of State:**Olafur Ragnar Grimsson

__Location__ Iceland is situated north-west of Europe in the arctic region. It is the world's eighteenth largest island and second largest in Europe. The Atlantic Ocean and Norwegian Sea borders Iceland from its neighbouring countries, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Scotland and Ireland. This country's total coastline is 4,988km. Iceland's north most longitude is 65 00 and 1800 to the west. Iceland is located on the boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. ===__Geographical Features__=== Due to its location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the warm waters of the gulf stream current, Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The highlands of this island are a cold and uninhabitable combination of sands and mountains. Approximately 11% of Iceland is glaciated. Öræfajökull is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. Altogether, the volcano has erupted twice in historical time. Thjorsa River is Iceland's longest river having a total length of 230 kilometres.

Þórisvatn is the largest lake and is situated at the south end of the Sprengisandur highland road. This lake has a total area of 88 km². Öskjuvatn is the deepest lake and is situated in the crater of the volcano Askja. It has a depth of 220m. Vatnajökull is located in the south east. It is the largest glacier in Iceland and the second largest in Europe. With an size of 8,100 km², this glacier covers more than 8% of this country.

__Climate__
Considering the northerly location of Iceland, its climate is much milder than might be expected, especially in winter. In Iceland's coast, the cimate is oceanic. The mean annual temperature for Reykjavík is 5 C. A temperate climate providing a habitable environment and nature belongs to the country, Iceland. The climate of Iceland's coast is cold oceanic. The weather in Iceland is on the whole quite changeable and depends mostly on the atmospheric depressions crossing the North Atlantic.

Coastal areas tend to experience winter gales and are generally windy. During the summer months there is almost continuous daylight and early spring and late autumn feature long twilights. From the middle of November until the end of January there is only a few hours of daylight each day. The Northern Lights are often visible in autumn and early winter.

__Economy__
Iceland is a developed country having the world's fifth in terms of Gross Domestic Product and second in human development. This country's has a total GDP $16.579 billion and a GDP per capita of $54,858. Iceland's unemployment rate is 1.3%. Iceland is the only place in the world that has filling stations dispensing hydrogen fuel for cars powered by fuel cells. It is also the only region capable of producing hydrogen in adequate quantities at reasonable cost.

This country's agriculture industry includes potatoes, turnips, green vegetables, mutton, dairy products and fish. Iceland's major imports are: machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs and textiles. Fish and fish products, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite are the major imports for this country. Trading partners of Iceland include: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Spain, Sweden, China and Japan.

**__Government__**
Iceland is governed under the 1944 constitution and has a universal suffrage of 18 years. Iceland is divided into 23 counties. This country is based on the Constitutional Republic which is ruled by Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. The civil law system is based on the Danish law. Iceland got its independence on 17th June, 1944 and this is now a public holiday. In the executive branch, the chief of state is President Olafur Ragnar who has been inn this role since 1st August 1996. The head of government is Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde. The cabinet is appointed by the president and the president is elected by a direct popular vote for a four year term.

In the Legislative Branch, Until 1991, the parliament was divided between a lower and upper house but this was changed and is now unicameral. There are 63 seats and members are elected by popular vote to serve a four year term. In the Judicial Court, there are nine courts altogether. The Supreme Court which is the main one and eight other district courts. Justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice. The constitution protects Judiciary from violation by the other two branches. The four major parties are the Independence, the Progressive, the Social Democratic, and the People's Alliance.

Iceland Government compared to Australia at National Level
A difference that these countries have is that Iceland has a president as head of state and Australia has a queen. They are both constitutional but Iceland is a republic and Australia is a monarchy. Iceland's parliament is unicameral but Australia's is bicameral. These two countries have the separation of powers, Executive, Judicial and Legislative Branch. Australia has eight states and one territory but Iceland has 23 counties. They both have a constitution and a universal suffrage of 18 years.

__History__
Iceland started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid Atlantic ridge. Although there is some evidence indicating an early presence of Irish monks in 800, it is generally believed that Iceland was discovered and settled by Norse explorers in the second half of the 9th century. The first permanent Norse settler was Ingólfur Arnarson, who built his homestead in Reykjavík in 874 and had given Iceland its name. Ingólfur was followed by many other emigrant settlers and by 930, most arable land had been claimed. In 930 the Icelandic rulers wrote a constitution called the Althing, a kind of parliament in the town Þingvellir. Today, Iceland is the oldest existing democracy. In 1402–1404 and 1494–1495, the Black Death occurred in Iceland, killing approximately half the population each time. In 1262, Iceland became part of Norway and in 1814, the country became part of Denmark. Many Icelanders wanted to be independent and in 1918, they got many powers of it own. Unfortunately, the king of Denmark was still was still the ruler of this country. Later the British then, the Americans occupied Iceland to prevent it from being attacked by the Germans. In 1944, Iceland finally received its independence.

By the middle of the 16th Century, Christian III Denmark began to impose Lutherism. The was alot of conflict with the Catholic bishops but in the end, Iceland became Lutheran and remains largely to this day. In 1951, a defence agreement was signed with the United States. The Cod Wars were a series of conflicts between Iceland and the United Kingdom regarding fishing rights near the coast of Iceland. German occupation in Denmark in 1940 prevented communication between Denmark and Iceland. As a result, the parliament of Iceland elected to take control of foreign affairs electing a provisional governor who later became Iceland first president. Starting from 1958, the first, second and third Cod Wars started when Britain was unable to prevent Iceland from extending its fishing limits and Iceland expanded its fishing boundaries.