Portal:Iceland
Iceland The country is sometimes erroneously called The Republic of Iceland and sometimes its counterpart Lýðveldið Ísland in Icelandic, but the official name is rather like the official name of Canada - simply the country name. One example of the former is the name of the Constitution of Iceland, which in Icelandic is Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands and literally means "the Constitution of the republic of Iceland", but note that "republic" is not capitalized. The official title of the President of Iceland (Forseti Íslands) does also not include the word republic as in some other republics. See also Names for Iceland. Template:/box-footer Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. The Althing is the national parliament: literally, the "all-thing" of Iceland. It was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, (the "assembly fields" or "Parliament Plains"), situated some 45 km east of what would later become the country's capital, Reykjavík, and this event marked the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Even after Iceland's union with Norway, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for some decades. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, of hewn Icelandic stone.The constitution of Iceland provides for six electoral constituencies with the possibility of an increase to seven. The constituency boundaries are fixed by legislation. Each constituency elects nine members. In addition, each party is allocated seats based on its proportion of the overall national vote in order that the number of members in parliament for each political party should be more or less proportional to its overall electoral support. A party must have won at least five percent of the national vote in order to be eligible for these proportionally distributed seats. Political participation in Iceland is very high: usually over 85 per cent of the electorate casts a ballot (87.7% in 2003). The current president of the Althing is Sólveig Pétursdóttir. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station services the Capital Region's hot water needs. Virtually all of Iceland's electricity comes from renewable resources. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Arnaldur Indriðason (born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years – topping bestseller lists year after year. In the year 2004 his books were seven of the ten most popular titles borrowed in Reykjavík City Library. Arnaldur's books have been published in 26 countries and have been translated into German, Danish, English, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish and French. Indriðason received the Glass Key, a literature prize for the best Nordic crime novel, in both 2002 and 2003. He won the Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for the novel Silence of the Grave.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Subdivisions: Eastern Region • Capital Region • Southern Region • Southern Peninsula • Vestfirðir History: Timeline • Settlement of Iceland • Icelandic Commonwealth • Age of the Sturlungs • Cod War Politics: Parliament (Alþing) • President • Prime Minister • Ombudsman • Cabinet • Constitution • Elections • Administrative divisions • Political parties Geography: Climate • Geology • Glaciers • Volcanoes • Waterfalls • Lakes • Rivers • Transport Economy: Stock Exchange • Icelandic Króna • Banks Military: Iceland Air Defence System • Icelandic Crisis Response Unit Demographics: Language • Religion • Subdivisions Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Education • Literature • Media • Music • Prostitution • Public holidays • Sport • Television • Whaling Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Lofsöngur) Lists: Outline of Iceland • Index of Iceland-related articles Template:/box-footer
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