1983 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1983 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Area
102,845 km2; arable and forest negligible; 22% meadow and pasture; 78% other Water
Branches
legislative authority .ests jointly with President and parliament (Althing); executive power vested in President but exercised by Cabinet responsible to parliament; Supreme Court and 29 lower courts
Capital
Reykjavik
Coastline
4,988 km People
Communists
est. 2,200, many of whom participate in the People's Alliance, which drew 22,489 votes in the 1983 parliamentary elections
Elections
parliamentary every four years, last 23 April 1973; presidential, every four years, last August 1980 Political parties and leaders: Independence (conservative), Thorsteinn Palsson; Progressive, Steingrimur Hermannsson; Social Democratic, Kjartan Johannsson; People's Alliance (leftist front), Svavar Gestsson
Ethnic divisions
homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norwegians and Celts
Government leaders
Vigdis FINNBOGADOTTIR, President; Steingrimur HERMANNSSON, Prime Minister
Labor force
105,000; 18.6% commerce, finance, and services; 12.2% construction; 9.0% agriculture; 6.3% transportation and communications; 5.4% fishing; 8.0% fish processing; 16.8% other manufacturing; 23.7% other; 0.4% unemployment (1981 average)
Language
Icelandic
Legal system
civil law system based on Danish law; constitution adopted 1944; legal education at University of Iceland; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (fishing 200 nm; exclusive economic zone 200
Literacy
99.9%
Member of
Council of Europe, EC (free trade agreement pending resolution of fishing limits issue), EFTA, FAO, GATT, IAEA,
National holiday
Anniversary of the Establishment of the Republic, 17 June
Nationality
noun — Icelanders); adjective — Icelandic
Official name
Republic of Iceland
Organized labor
60% of labor force Government
Political subdivisions
23 rural districts, 215 parishes, 14 incorporated towns
Population
239,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 1.0%
Religion
95% Evangelical Lutheran, 3% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 2% no affiliation
Suffrage
universal, over age 20; not compulsory
Type
republic
Voting strength
(1983 election) 38.7% Independence, 19.5% Progressive, 17.3% People's Alliance, 11.7% Social Democratic, 12.8% other