1.
Iceland
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Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
2.
Politics of Iceland
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Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Althingi, the Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. It is arguably the worlds oldest assembly democracy, elected to a four-year term, the president has limited powers and is poised in a largely ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat and figurehead. The prime minister and cabinet exercise most executive functions, the head of government is the prime minister, who, together with the cabinet, takes care of the executive part of government. Only when the party leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in time does the president exercise this power. This has never happened since the republic was founded in 1944, the regent had, for all practical purposes, the position of a president, and Sveinn in fact became the countrys first president in 1944. The president is elected every four years, the cabinet is elected every four years, the modern parliament, called Althing or Alþingi, was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish king. It was widely seen as a reestablishment of the founded in 930 in the Commonwealth period. The Althing is composed of 63 members, elected every 4 years unless it is dissolved sooner, suffrage for presidential and parliamentary elections is 18 years of age and is universal. Members of the Althing are elected on the basis of representation from six constituencies. Until 1991, membership of the Althing was divided between a lower and upper house but this was changed to a unicameral system. Ólafur Ragnar successfully has used his largely ceremonial office to promote Icelandic trade abroad, the next presidential elections will be held in June 2020. The last parliamentary elections took place on April 27,2013, the ruling government was the first majority left-wing government. The ruling coalition parties, the Social Democrats and the Left-Green Movement lost 18 seats in Alþingi, the Progressive party was the largest party after the election and formed a coalition with the Independence Party. A total of 193,792 votes were cast constituting 81. 4% of the 237,957 electorate, in losing four seats in the April 1995 parliamentary elections, the IP and SDP mustered a simple majority in the 63-seat Althing. However, Prime Minister and IP leader Davíð Oddsson chose the resurgent Progressive Party as a more conservative partner to form a stronger and more stable majority with 40 seats. Splintered by factionalism over the economy and Icelands role in the European Union, the beginning of the millennium saw a merger of all the left parties to form the Social Democratic Alliance. Some members chose to join another new left party instead, the Left-Green Movement, after the PPs loss in the 2007 elections its longstanding alliance with the IP ended despite still being able to form a majority
3.
Constitution of Iceland
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The Constitution of Iceland is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the leadership arrangement of the country is determined, the current constitution was first instituted on June 17,1944, since then, it has been amended seven times. In the 19th century, the Icelandic independence movement was gaining momentum, while nationalism, in June 1849, the king of Denmark was forced to meet the demands of the liberals and the nationalists, and agree to a constitution for Denmark and thus also with Iceland. This constitution repealed the absolute monarchy and established a monarchy in which power over most important issues was handed over to a parliament elected by the people. This change was not well-received with Icelanders, as it in reality translated to reduced autonomy for Iceland, before 1849, Icelanders had officially ruled themselves as they happened to see fit in domestic matters. But now those matters were falling under the control of parliaments over which Icelanders had no influence, but when said region was annexed by Prussia in 1867, new conditions were created and stöðulögin were passed 1871, which determined the standing of Iceland in relation to the Danish state. In 1874, on the anniversary of the settlement in Iceland, Christian IX became king of Denmark. This opportunity was used to give Iceland its own separate constitution and this constitution was called Stjórnarskrá um hin sérstaklegu málefni Íslands, and was the basis of Icelands current constitution. With the sambandslögunum of 1918, Iceland became a sovereign state and this constitution was called Stjórnarskrá konungsríkisins Íslands. In early 1944 the Althing approved the cancellation of the sambandslögin and agreed to a new constitution, an election was run in May of the same year and had a turnout of 98%. 97% voted to break off the current relationship law with Denmark, on June 17,1944 the Althing met at Þingvellir, where the constitution was ratified and the republic established. After the ratification of the constitution, it has been amended seven times in total, mostly due to changes in the structure of the constituencies of Iceland, in 1991 the organization of Althing changed so that it now worked in one house rather than two as previously before. Extensive modifications were made in 1995 when the human rights sections of the constitution were reviewed, section I states that Iceland is a Republic with a parliamentary government, and the Althing and the president jointly exercise legislative power and judges exercise judicial power. Section II contains articles 3 through 30, and states where the Presidential Seat is, meetings with the Althingi, and presidential rights. Section III contains articles 31–34, and defines term limits for Althingi members, section IV contains articles 35-58, and defines the major issues concerning the activity of the parliament and determines the rights and power of the MPs. The section says that nobody is allowed to approve a bill before three readings in the Althing, and Althing meetings shall take place in public unless approved by the Parliament. The majority of MPs must be present to deal with an issue, many other parliamentary procedural rules are legally defined according to the 58th article. Section V contains articles 59-61, and describes the regulation of judiciary and it says that the judiciary may be established by law, that the judiciary will settle disputes around competence of authorities, and that the judiciary shall be guided solely by law
4.
President of Iceland
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The President of Iceland is Icelands elected head of state. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his first term as President, the President is elected to a four-year term by popular vote, is not term-limited, and has limited powers. The presidential residence is situated in Bessastaðir in Garðabær, near the capital city Reykjavík, when Iceland became a republic in 1944 by the passing of a new constitution the position of King of Iceland was simply replaced by President of Iceland. A transitional provision of the new constitution stipulated that the first President be elected by the Parliament. Etymology of the word Forseti from Old Norse is the one and it is the name of one of Æsir gods, i. e. the one of justice. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the Frisians, the President appoints ministers to the Cabinet of Iceland, determines their number and division of assignments. Ministers are not able to resign and must be discharged by the President, the ministers are delegated the Presidents executive powers and are solely responsible for their actions. In the aftermath of elections, the President has the role to designate a party leader to formally start negotiations to form a government. The President and the Cabinet meet in the State Council, the Cabinet must inform the President of important matters of the state and drafted bills. During meetings the Cabinet may also suggest convening, adjourning or dissolving the Parliament, the President can decide that the prosecution for an offense be discontinued and can also grants pardon and amnesty. Article 2 of the states that the President and the Parliament jointly exercise the legislative power. The President signs bills passed by the Parliament into law and can not to sign them. Bills vetoed by the President do take effect immediately, should the Parliament not withdraw them, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is the only President to have vetoed legislation from the Parliament, having done so on three occasions. This power was intended to be used only in extremely extenuating circumstances. The President has the power to submit bills and resolutions to the Parliament which it must take under consideration, should the Parliament not be in session the President can issue provisional laws which must conform with the constitution. Provisional laws become void if the Parliament does not confirmed them when it convenes, no President has ever submitted bills nor resolutions, nor issued provisional laws. Article 30 of the states that the President can grant exceptions from laws. No President has ever exercised this authority, the President convenes the Parliament after general elections and dissolves it
5.
Prime Minister of Iceland
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The Prime Minister of Iceland is Icelands head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the President and exercises executive authority along with the subject to parliamentary support. The meetings shall be presided over by the Minister called upon by the President of the Republic to do so, the Prime Ministers office is located in Stjórnarráðið, Reykjavik where their secretariat is based and where cabinet meetings are held. The Prime Minister has a residence, Þingvallabær in Þingvellir. The Prime Minister also has a Reception House at Tjarnargata, Reykjavik which was the Prime Ministerial residence until 1943
6.
Cabinet of Iceland
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The Cabinet of Iceland is the collective decision-making body of the government of Iceland, composed of the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers. A constitutional amendment, confirmed on 3 October 1903, stated that the Minister for Iceland had to be a resident of Reykjavík and be able to read and write Icelandic. The Minister for Iceland therefore belonged to both the Danish Cabinet and the newly created Icelandic Cabinet but was only answerable to the Icelandic Parliament, executive power was thus transferred to Iceland with the creation of the Icelandic Cabinet. In the beginning, there were no cabinet ministers nor ministries that formed the Cabinet, the offices were called first, second and third office. The first office was responsible for court, school and church affairs, the second for employment, transport and postal affairs and the third for finance. The Minister for Iceland was the most supreme officeholder in the Cabinet, but each office was headed by an Office Manager and a National Secretary supervised the three managers. The position of Minister for Iceland in the Danish and Icelandic cabinet was discontinued 30 November 1918 as the Danish–Icelandic Act of Union was signed 1 December 1918 by Denmark and Iceland. The agreement made Iceland a sovereign state — the Kingdom of Iceland — joined with Denmark in a union with the Danish king as the head of state of both kingdoms. The Minister for Iceland at the time of the signing of the agreement, Jón Magnússon, the current cabinet, consists of the following ministers, List of cabinets of Iceland Official website Official website
7.
Althing
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The Alþingi is the national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest extant parliamentary institutions in the world, the Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, the assembly fields or Parliament fields, situated approximately 45 kilometres east of what later became the countrys capital, Reykjavík. This event marked the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth, even after Icelands union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for 45 years. 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. A party must have won at least five per cent of the vote in order to be eligible for these proportionally distributed seats. Political participation in Iceland is very high, usually over 80 per cent of the electorate casts a ballot, the current president of the Althing is Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir. The Althingi is one of the oldest extant parliamentary institutions in the world and its establishment, as an outdoor assembly or thing held on the plains of Þingvellir from about the year 930 AD, laid the foundation for an independent national existence in Iceland. To begin with, the Althing was an assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Those attending the assembly dwelt in temporary camps during the session, the centre of the gathering was the Lögberg, or Law Rock, a rocky outcrop on which the Lawspeaker took his seat as the presiding official of the assembly. His responsibilities included reciting aloud the laws in effect at the time and it was his duty to proclaim the procedural law of Althing to those attending the assembly each year. Public addresses on matters of importance were delivered at the Law Rock and there the assembly was called to order, the Lögrétta, the legislative section of the assembly, was its most powerful institution. It comprised the 39 district goðar plus nine additional members and the Lawspeaker, as the legislative section of Althing, the Lögrétta took a stand on legal conflicts, adopted new laws and granted exemptions to existing laws. Althing of old also performed a function and heard legal disputes in addition to the spring assemblies held in each district. After the country had divided into four quarters around 965 AD. Another court was established early in the 11th century and it served as a supreme court of sorts, and assumed the function of hearing cases left unsettled by the other courts. It comprised 48 judges appointed by the goðar of Lögrétta, when the Icelanders submitted to the authority of the Norwegian king by the terms of the Old Covenant in 1262, the function of Althing changed. The organization of the came to an end and the rule of the country by goðar disappeared
8.
Supreme Court of Iceland
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The Supreme Court of Iceland is the final court of appeal in the judiciary of Iceland. It is also the oldest court of law in Iceland and the higher of the two Icelandic court branches, the other being the District Courts of Iceland. Notwithstanding the fact that the Court is not mentioned by name in the Constitution of Iceland but only its justices, it is validated in the Courts Act No. The Supreme Court of Iceland is located at the Dómhúsið at Arnarhóll in Reykjavík, a building that was built for that purpose. The current President of the Court is Markús Sigurbjörnsson, the Court was founded under the Supreme Court Act No. 22/1919 and held its first session on 16 February 1920, previously, the Landsyfirréttur, or National High Court of Iceland, had been the highest domestic court, but a line of appeal had been available to the Supreme Court of Denmark in Copenhagen. The establishment of the Supreme Court moved the word in Icelandic cases home to Iceland. The first justices of the Supreme Court were Kristján Jónsson, Halldór Daníelsson, Eggert Briem, Lárus H. Bjarnason and Páll Einarsson. The first three men had been the judges of the old National High Court, which had operated throughout the 19th century but was abolished with the founding of the Supreme Court of Iceland in 1920, the Supreme Court justices elect a President and a Vice-President. He is responsible for the operation and finances of the Court, for especially important cases, the President of the Court may decide that the bench be constituted by seven justices. When a case is heard by five or seven justices, these shall usually be the most senior justices on the Court, the main rule is that cases are presented orally before the Supreme Court, and the court sessions are generally open to the public. The President of the Supreme Court presides over the session or, in his absence, if neither of them is hearing the case, the most senior justice in session will preside. As soon as a case presentation is finished, the justices retire for a closed meeting to discuss. One justice will be responsible for introducing the matter and proposing a solution of the case. Finally, a complete judgement will be prepared, and the justices will sign a copy which is filed in the Book of Opinions of the Court. For cases where members of the Cabinet are suspected of criminal behavior, the Landsdómur, after the transfer of power from Denmark, the Court was first housed in the Old Penitentiary Building on Skólavörðustígur in Reykjavík. In 1949 it moved to the court building on Lindargata. 1993 saw a competition to design a new home for the Court, which was won by Margrét Harðardóttir and Steve Christer of Studio Grandi, Reykjavík
9.
Elections in Iceland
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Elections in Iceland gives information on election and election results in Iceland. Iceland elects on a level a ceremonial head of state, the president -. The president is elected for a term by the people. The parliament has 63 members, elected for a term by proportional representation. Iceland has a multi-party system, with parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone. The most recent election was held on 29 October,2016, vote share changes are given compared to the 2009 election results, seat changes are given compared to the distribution immediately before the election
10.
Constituencies of Iceland
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Iceland is divided into 6 constituencies for the purpose of selecting representatives to parliament. The new division comprises three countryside constituencies and three city constituencies and this has occurred, and as of the elections in 2007, one seat was transferred from the Northwest constituency to the Southwest one. Administrative divisions of Iceland Geography of Iceland Municipalities of Iceland Regions of Iceland Media related to Constituencies of Iceland at Wikimedia Commons Article on Alþingi website
11.
Icelandic presidential election, 2004
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A presidential election was held in Iceland on Saturday,26 June 2004. Traditionally, Icelandic presidential elections in which the incumbent president indicates a wish to obtain a new mandate are uncontested. The current president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, was first elected in 1996 with 41. 4% of the vote, in 2000 he was re-elected without opposition. By tradition, the presidency is an almost entirely powerless office, as the presidents almost never use the granted to them by the constitution. Ólafur Ragnar, however, has expressed a wish to have a discussion on the role of the head of state. Unprecedentedly in the history of the Icelandic Republic, on 2 June 2004 Ólafur Ragnar vetoed a media ownership law passed by the Althing
12.
Icelandic presidential election, 2012
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Presidential elections were held in Iceland on 30 June 2012. There were six candidates, but the election became a contest between the incumbent President, and the journalist Thóra Arnórsdóttir, who wanted to return the presidency to a ceremonial role. Many significant matters that are likely to lead to conflict and confrontations are going to be on the agenda in the coming years, Thóra Arnórsdóttir, a journalist and news presenter. She announced her candidacy on 4 April and received the necessary 1,500 signatures in one weekend, others, Ari Trausti Gudmundsson, a writer, geophysicist and formerly of the Communist Party of Iceland, but now an independent. Dr. Herdís Thorgeirsdóttir, a lawyer and professor of law and human rights at Bifröst University. She called a meeting that day and said her campaign would be an experiment on democracy, whether it was possible to run without the backing of powerful financial actors. She is the President of the European Women Women Lawyers Association, Andrea Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir, former chairwoman of Hagsmunasamtök heimilanna, a non-governmental organisation founded in the wake of the 2008–2012 Icelandic financial crisis. A vocal critic of government and financial institutions, she announced her candidacy on 1 May. She supports the minimum wage of 193,000 krona, hannes Bjarnason, a farmer who lived in Norway for 14 years. He seeks to enhance the place of morality in the public debate, two other candidates declared their intent to stand in the election, but later dropped out, Jón Lárusson, a police inspector charged with investigating tax fraud since the economic crisis. He claims to be apolitical and has opposed membership of the EU, Ástþór Magnússon, previously a candidate in the 2004 election, a businessman and pacifist, who announced his candidacy on 3 March 2012. He also accused the Icelandic media of giving Thóra preferential treatment, Ólafur also claimed to be the best person to steer Iceland through financial crisis. Thóra told the Reykjavik Grapevine that Iceland needs new leadership, I think we have all felt a strong need for a change in this country, has a great power of influence. An opinion poll published on 21 May by the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Iceland showed Thóra leading with 46. 2%, with Ólafur on 37. 8%. However, after she suspended her campaign as she was due to give birth, an average of three poll prior to the election indicated Ólafur leading with 45% and Thóra in second place with 37. 7% ahead of four other candidates. Voting centres were open from 9AM to 10PM, after having voted, Thóra said DV, You see this glorious day, I cant be anything but optimistic. The Gallup poll gives an indication of the outcome, but we will just count the votes. To have the possibility to topple the current president is a victory in itself, the same day Ólafur wrote in Morgunbladid, Iceland is now at a crossroads
13.
Icelandic parliamentary election, 2007
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Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 12 May 2007. The Independence Party remained the largest party in the Althing, winning 25 of the 63 seats, there are 6 constituencies in Iceland. In that case a constituency seat shall travel from the constituency with the lowest figure to the one with the highest figure, however, the total number of seats must never become less than six in any constituency. The box below display the number of seats in each constituency at the 2007 parliamentary election. The available constituency seats are first distributed to each party according to the DHondt method, as a restriction on the possibility of re-ranking candidates, it is however only possible to alter the first several candidates on the list. As mentioned above, crossed out names will always be allocated a 0.00 value, the accumulated total score of the candidates voting fractions, will be used in determining which candidates receive the seats won by their party. The first leveling seat will go to the party with the highest ratio of votes per seat, the same calculation process is then repeated, until all 9 leveling seats have been allocated to specific parties. It should be noted that a partys votes per seat ratio will change during this calculation process, the second and final step is for each party being granted a leveling seat to pin point, across all constituencies, which of its runner-up candidates should then win this additional seat. The above described method is used for apportionment of all the party allocated leveling seats, the then governing parties won a razor-thin majority,32 seats against the oppositions 31. This was caused by considerable losses for the Progressive Party, which had the worst election in its more than 90-year history. 3% of the votes. After five days of speculation, it was decided on 17 May that the government would resign, haarde formally resigned on 18 May on behalf of his outgoing government. Simultaneously, he was assigned by the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the coalition meetings between the Independence Party and the Alliance were held in Reykjavík and at Þingvellir, where Alþingi was established in the year of 930. On 22 May the two reached an agreement, and the new government took over on 24 May. Möller, Minister of Transportation Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, Minister of Environment The Government enjoyed a vast majority on Alþingi, in the governments manifesto it is stated that it would focus on children, the elderly and the environment. The government aimed to lower taxes and raise benefits and invest heavily in education and transportation, the Social Democratic Alliance was more environmentalist and pro-EU and opposed the war in Iraq and Icelands participation in the Coalition of the Willing. A commission, though, to weigh the pros and cons of European Union membership was set up, on 23 May the chairman of the Progressive Party, Jón Sigurðsson, the outgoing Minister of Industries and Commerce, announced his resignation, due to poor results in the election. The vice chairman, Guðni Ágústsson, the outgoing Minister of Agriculture, took over the post
14.
Icelandic parliamentary election, 2009
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A parliamentary election was held in Iceland on 25 April 2009 following strong pressure from the public as a result of the Icelandic financial crisis. The Progressive Party also made gains, and the new Citizens Movement, formed after the January 2009 protests, gained four seats. The big loser was the Independence Party, which had been in power for 18 years until January 2009, it lost a third of its support, there had been weekly protests in front of the Althing since the collapse of Icelands three commercial banks in October 2008. These protests intensified with the return of the Althing from Christmas recess on 20 January 2009, three days later, Prime Minister Geir Haarde of the Independence Party announced that he was withdrawing from politics for health reasons, and promised early elections for 9 May. After consultations with all the parties represented in the Althing. This proved to be a minority coalition with the Left-Green Movement, with the support of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party, former Social Affairs Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Prime Minister. The date of the elections was one of the agreements between the coalition partners, the Social Democrats preferred 9 May, while the Left-Greens wanted elections in early April, the intermediate position of the Progressive Party,25 April, was adopted. The three parties also agree to convene an assembly to discuss changes to the Constitution. There was no agreement on the question of a referendum on prospective EU membership. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson was elected party chairman on 18 January 2009, Independence Party chairman Geir Haarde announced his retirement from politics on 23 January 2009, revealing that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer which required urgent treatment. He was succeeded by Bjarni Benediktsson at the convention on 29 March 2009. The party also proposed to call for two referendums on the EU – one on starting entry talks, and another on membership after negotiations are over. Social Democrat leader Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir had also been unwell since September 2008 with a brain tumour which had kept her out of the public eye for much of the financial crisis. She was elected, as expected, with a majority of 97% of the vote at the party congress of 27–29 March 2009. Two new parties were formed in the aftermath of the January protests, the Citizens Movement, both contested all six constituencies in the 2009 elections. A third new party, L-List of Sovereignty Supporters, withdrew its candidacy on 3 April, the Icelandic Movement – Living Land, which had unsuccessfully contested the 2007 election on a green platform, merged into the Social Democratic Alliance at the March 2009 party congress. Just a week before the election, the Independence Party announced that its party committee on Europe had decided to call for steps to adopt the euro as Icelands currency. Shortly before the election, Johanna Sigurðardóttir stated that her priority, if returned to government, would be EU membership, there are 6 constituencies in Iceland
15.
Icelandic parliamentary election, 2013
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An Icelandic parliamentary election was held on 27 April 2013. Fifteen parties contested the election in Iceland, compared to just seven in the previous election, the election was won by the two centre-right opposition parties, the Independence Party and Progressive Party, who subsequently formed a coalition government. The parties are eurosceptic, and their win brought to a partially completed negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership. The previous elections in 2009 were won by the Social Democratic Alliance — the first time that the Independence Party was not the largest party in the Althing, the Social Democratic Alliance was able to form a coalition with the Left-Green Movement. As a result of this, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the first female minister of Iceland. Five parties were elected at the election, held in April 2009. Since then, the representation for one of these, Citizens Movement, first mostly moved to The Movement and then, in March 2012. In January 2012, the new party Solidarity was founded by an incumbent MP, Lilja Mósesdóttir, another new party, Bright Future, was formed in February 2012 with the involvement of two MPs from, respectively, the Progressive Party and Social Democratic Alliance. One MP originally elected for Citizens Movement, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, also participated in the establishment of a new party in 2012, two euroskeptic Left-Green Movement MPs, Jón Bjarnason and Atli Gíslason, also decided to defect and form the new Rainbow Movement in March 2013. The box below shows the distribution of seats in the incumbent parliament on 28 March 2013, in that case a constituency seat will be reassigned from the constituency with the lowest number to the one with the highest, until the rule is met. However, the number of seats may never fall to less than six in any constituency. The box below shows the number of seats available in each constituency at the 2013 parliamentary election, the available constituency seats are first distributed to each party according to the DHondt method, so that proportional representation is ensured within each of the constituencies. As a restriction on the possibility of re-ranking candidates, it is only possible to alter the first several candidates on the list. As mentioned above, crossed out names will always be allocated a 0.00 value, the accumulated total score of the candidates voting fractions, will be used in determining which candidates receive the seats won by their party. The first leveling seat will go to the party with the highest ratio of votes per seat, the same calculation process is then repeated, until all 9 leveling seats have been allocated to specific parties. It should be noted that a partys votes per seat ratio will change during this calculation process, the second and final step is for each party being granted a leveling seat to pin point, across all constituencies, which of its runner-up candidates should then win this additional seat. The above described method is used for apportionment of all the party allocated leveling seats, the final deadline for parties to apply for participation in the parliamentary election was 9 April 2013. To be approved for a list letter to participate in the election, Dawn Iceland Democratic Party *A new party split from Dawn, founded 16 February 2013
16.
Icelandic parliamentary election, 2017
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Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 29 October 2016. They were due to be held on or before 27 April 2017, but following the 2016 Icelandic anti-government protests, of the 63 elected MPs,30 were female, giving Iceland the highest proportion of female MPs in Europe. A new coalition was formed on 10 January 2017, consisting of the Independence Party, mass protests calling on the Prime Minister to quit followed. Although Sigmundur Davíð had stated he had no intention of resigning, however, it was later stated by the Prime Ministers office that he had only taken a temporary leave of absence from his duties. The Progressive Partys deputy leader, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, became acting Prime Minister the same day, the President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, then said he would speak to both coalition parties, Progressive Party and Independence Party, before considering whether to call new elections. Opposition parties continued to press for new elections, on 6 April, Sigurður announced, We expect to have elections this autumn. On 11 August, Bjarni Benediktsson met with opposition parties and later announced that elections would be held on 29 October 2016, the 63 members of the Althing were elected using closed list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies of 8 to 13 seats. Of the 63 seats,54 were elected using constituency results, the final deadline for parties to apply for participation in the parliamentary election was 14 October 2016. The Pirate Party announced on 16 October 2016 that they would not participate in negotiations to form a coalition government with either the Progressive Party or the Independence Party. The party did send letters to Reform, Bright Future, Social Democratic Alliance and this was the lowest turnout in Icelands history. The leader of the Independence Party, Bjarni Benediktsson, expressed preference for a three-party coalition, the leader of Reform ruled out a right-leaning three-party coalition with the Independence Party and the Progressives. Reform have not ruled out supporting the centre-left bloc, on 2 November, President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson gave the mandate to Bjarni to form a majority government, on 17 November, the mandate to form a majority government was in turn given to the leader of the Left-Greens, Katrín Jakobsdóttir. She instigated talks with Reform, Bright Future, the Pirates, and Social Democrats, on 24 November, the coalition talks fell through and Katrín formally renounced the Presidential mandate to form a government. On 2 December, the mandate to form a majority government was given to the leader of the Pirate Party, Birgitta Jónsdóttir. The Pirates were unable to form a government and the President chose not to give a new mandate to form a government, on 2 January 2017, the Independence Party started official talks about a possible coalition deal with the Reform Party and Bright Future. Morgunblaðið also reported that the Left-Green Movement and the Progressive Party had also discussed possible coalition deals with the Independence Party, a new coalition was formed on 10 January 2017 between Independence Party, Reform Party and the Bright Future with Bjarni Benediktsson becoming Prime Minister on 11 January 2017
17.
Icelandic debt repayment referendum, 2010
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The Icelandic loan guarantees referendum, also known as the Icesave referendum, was held in Iceland on 6 March 2010. The referendum was held under article 26 of the Constitution of Iceland after President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson refused to counter-sign the corresponding Act of Parliament into law on 5 January 2010, the proposal was resoundingly defeated, with 98% voting against and less than 2% in favor. The referendum was the first to be held in Iceland since 1944, the Althing approved a motion on 8 January 2010 which called for the referendum to be held by 6 March at the latest. The motion passed by 49–0 with 14 abstentions, the date of the referendum was later set for 6 March. The liabilities of the Depositors and Investors Guarantee Fund arise from the 2008–2012 Icelandic financial crisis, which saw Icelands three main commercial banks collapse within the space of a week. One of those banks, Landsbanki, had taken retail deposits from more than 400,000 British and Dutch customers through its branches in London and Amsterdam, through a product known as Icesave. This led to a dispute, and the unprecedented freezing of Landsbanki assets in the United Kingdom through the Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008. An outline agreement was reached on 16 November 2008, after mediation by France, Iceland finally reached bilateral agreements with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on 5 June 2009. The liabilities of the Depositors and Investors Guarantee Fund were £2.35 billion in the UK, on 28 August 2009, the Althing voted 34–15 to approve a bill to regulate the repayments. Initially opposed in June, the bill was passed after amendments were added which set a ceiling on the repayment based on the gross domestic product. Under the measure, up to 4% of Icelands GDP growth would be paid to Britain from 2017–2023 while the Netherlands would receive up to 2% of Icelands GDP growth for the same period. Opponents of the bill argued that Icelanders, already reeling from the crisis, however, the government argued that if the bill failed to pass, the UK and the Netherlands might retaliate by blocking disbursements from the IMF. Revised loan agreements negotiations, including the cap on repayments, were concluded on 19 October 2009, a second Icesave bill was passed on 30 December by 33–30. The bill was presented to President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson at a meeting of the government the next morning. Grímsson refused to sign the bill immediately, pointing out that it was less than 24 hours since it had passed by the Althing. Article 26 of the Constitution of Iceland states that passed by the Althing must be counter-signed by the President within fourteen days or face a national referendum. The President had previously scheduled a meeting for 2 January 2010 with campaigners from the Indefence movement, at the meeting Indefence presented a petition bearing 56,089 signatures urging Grímsson not to sign the bill. By 4 January, the number of signatories had risen to 62,000, Grímsson announced his decision not to sign the bill at a press conference in his official residence on the morning of 5 January 2010
18.
Administrative divisions of Iceland
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This article shows the administrative divisions of Iceland. Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the regions, the imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system, but still exists. There are eight regions which are used for statistical purposes. They also govern zoning and can take on additional functions if they have the budget for it. The autonomy of municipalities over their own matters is guaranteed by the constitution of Iceland, historically, Iceland was divided into 23 counties. Currently, Iceland is split up amongst 24 sheriffs that represent government in various capacities, the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs Offices greatly resemble the historical county divisions. Amongst their duties are local police tax collection, declaring bankruptcy, historically, Iceland was divided into farthings that were named after the cardinal directions. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional assemblies called farthing assemblies, each farthing contained three local assemblies except the Norðlendingafjórðungur which had four. List of cities and towns in Iceland ISO 3166-2 codes of Iceland FIPS region codes of Iceland NUTS of Iceland Subdivisions of the Nordic countries
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Regions of Iceland
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The regions of Iceland are mainly used for statistical purposes. The district court jurisdictions also follow these divisions, the postal code system follows the regions as well, with a few exceptions. Prior to 2003, the regions were used as overall constituencies in certain parliamentary elections. Excluding its usage in collecting statistics, particularly census data. Other major changes have also included, such as the redistribution of over twenty subdivisions. These regions are not defined by law and have no standing or administrative function. The countrys healthcare program is divided into seven districts and these regions mostly correspond to those detailed below, although a few updates have yet to be fully implemented. For example, settlements in the Norðurland have suffered minor effects from the merger of the Northwest and Northeast into a single group, farthings of Iceland Municipalities of Iceland Constituencies of Iceland Subdivisions of the Nordic countries
20.
Municipalities of Iceland
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They also govern zoning and can voluntarily take on additional functions if they have the budget for it. The autonomy of municipalities over their own matters is guaranteed by the constitution of Iceland, when urbanization began in Iceland during the 18th and 19th century, several independent townships were created. The role of municipalities was further formalized during the 20th century, the trend in recent years has been to transfer more functions and power from the state to the municipalities. This has called for larger municipalities, the government encourages municipalities to merge but has taken a different approach to the issue than governments in other Nordic countries where forced amalgamation is regularly carried out. Municipalities negotiate possible mergers between themselves and the merger has to be agreed upon by the people of each municipality in a referendum, a similar approach is used by the Faroese government. Municipalities with fewer than 50 people may be merged with others by force though, the number of municipalities peaked in the mid-20th century. There were 229 of them in 1950, in 1995 their number had reduced to 170. In the year 2000 the number of municipalities in Iceland was 124, the municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are directly elected every four years. Municipal elections were last held on 29 May 2010, the sizes of these councils vary from five members in the smallest municipalities to fifteen in the largest one. Most municipalities except for the small ones hire an executive manager who may or may not be a member of the municipal council. These managers are usually referred to as mayors in the urban municipalities. It is common for these executive managers to be professionally hired, List of cities and towns in Iceland Constituencies of Iceland List of the most populated municipalities in the Nordic countries Maps of the municipalities CityMayors article
21.
Diplomatic mission
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In practice, a diplomatic mission usually denotes the resident mission, namely the office of a countrys diplomatic representatives in the capital city of another country. As well as being a mission to the country in which it is situated. There are thus resident and non-resident embassies, a permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an Embassy, and the head of the mission is known as an Ambassador, or High Commissioner. Therefore, the Embassy operates in the Chancery, European Union missions abroad are known as EU delegations. Some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff, under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyas missions used the name peoples bureau and the head of the mission was a secretary. Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as commissions and their heads are High Commissioners. This is because Ambassadors are exchanged between foreign countries, but since the beginning of the Commonwealth, member countries have maintained that they are not foreign to one another. An ambassador represents one head of state to another and a letters of credence are addressed by one head of state to another. Until India became a republic on 26 January 1950, all members of the Commonwealth had the head of state. In the past a diplomatic mission headed by an official was known as a legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are effectively obsolete, a consulate is similar to, but not the same as a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D. C. but also maintains seven consulates-general, the person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy in what is called a consular section. In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure, a chargé daffaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of missions term and the beginning of another. Contrary to popular belief, most diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status, rather, the premises of diplomatic missions usually remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Diplomats themselves still retain full diplomatic immunity, and the host country may not enter the premises of the mission without permission of the represented country, international rules designate an attack on an embassy as an attack on the country it represents. The term extraterritoriality is often applied to missions, but normally only in this broader sense
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Accession of Iceland to the European Union
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Accession of Iceland to the European Union is a contentious political issue in Iceland. Iceland applied to join the European Union on 16 July 2009, however, on 13 September 2013 the Government of Iceland dissolved its accession team and suspended its application to join the EU. If negotiations were to resume, Iceland would face contentious issues on fisheries which could derail a agreement. If an agreement were to be concluded, the treaty would be subject to a national referendum in Iceland. In 2017, Icelands newly elected government announced that it would hold a vote in parliament on whether to hold a referendum on resuming EU membership negotiations. Iceland is a member of the European Free Trade Association, a grouping of four non-EU European countries, through the EEA, Iceland participates with a non-voting status in certain EU agencies and programmes, including enterprise, environment, education and research programs. Iceland also contributes funds to social and economic cohesion in the EU/EEA, Iceland also frequently consults the EU on foreign affairs and frequently aligns itself to EU foreign policy. Iceland also participates in EU civilian peacekeeping missions, Iceland is a member of the Nordic Passport Union and the Schengen Area, which now is under EU law, as a non-voting participant. Icelands participation in the Schengen Area allows free movement of people between Iceland and the rest of the Schengen Area, several thousand Icelanders travel to and study or work in the EU. A large majority of foreigners in Iceland come from the EU, Iceland is also associated with the Dublin Convention on justice and home affairs cooperation. Iceland also has links to several EU member states through its membership of the Nordic Council, Economic relations between Iceland and the European Union are primarily governed by two agreements, a bilateral free trade agreement signed in 1972, and the agreement on the EEA in 1994. The EEA was established to give Iceland, among other European countries outside the EU, Icelands access to the EU market excludes agriculture and fisheries, which are dealt with by separate bilateral agreements. Iceland is legally bound to implement into its own law all EU directives applicable to the movement of goods, persons, services. This is complemented by regular meetings between EU and Icelandic officials, including a meeting of EEA foreign ministers. 78% of Icelands exports went to the EU and 52% of Icelands imports came from it, making the EU Icelands most important trading partner, Iceland is still a large exporter of fish with a world trade surplus of €1.1 billion in 2008. In fisheries, the EU had a 2009 trade deficit of €879 million, until Icelands 2009 financial crisis, its commercial services sector had been growing rapidly, accounting for almost 35% of total exports. In 1994, the Social Democratic Party became the first Icelandic political party to include the intention to apply to join the EU in its policy statement, former Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson predicted on 8 February 2006 that the country would join the EU by 2015. He added that the decisive factor would be the future and the size of the Eurozone, especially whether Denmark, Sweden and his prediction received some criticism, not the least from people within his own government
23.
Cod Wars
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The Cod Wars were a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended with Icelands victory, as a result, British fishing communities lost access to rich areas and were devastated, with thousands of jobs lost. Since 1982, a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone has been the United Nations standard, the term cod war was coined by a British journalist in early September 1958. None of the Cod Wars meets any of the thresholds for a conventional war, though. There is only one confirmed death during the Cod Wars, an Icelandic engineer accidentally killed in the Second Cod War while repairing damage on an Icelandic gunboat, a variety of explanations for the occurrence of the Cod Wars have been put forward. Lessons drawn from the Cod Wars have been applied to international relations theory, fishermen from the British Isles began to fish in international waters near Iceland in and around 1400. From the early 16th century onwards, English sailors and fishermen were a presence in the waters off Iceland. Some Icelandic historians view the history of Icelands struggle for control of its resources in ten episodes. The first of these Cod Wars was a dispute between Norway and England in 1415–1425 over the trading with Iceland, which was in violation of Norways monopoly on the Icelandic trade. This dispute ended when the English arrested Eric of Pomeranias officials in Iceland, the agreement reached in 1976 is considered the final and tenth Cod War. With increases in range of fishing enabled by steam power in the part of the 19th century. Their large catches in Icelandic waters attracted more regular voyages across the North Atlantic, in 1893, the Danish Government, which had governed Iceland and the Faroe Islands, claimed a fishing limit of 50 nmi around their shores. British trawler owners disputed this claim and continued to send their ships to the waters near Iceland, in 1896 the United Kingdom made an agreement with Denmark which allowed for British vessels to use any Icelandic port for shelter, provided they stowed their gear and trawl nets. In return, British vessels were not to fish in Faxa Bay east of a line from Ílunýpa, in April 1899 the steam trawler Caspian was fishing off the Faroe Islands when a Danish gunboat tried to arrest her for allegedly fishing illegally inside the limits. The trawler refused to stop and was fired upon, eventually the trawler was caught but, before the skipper left his ship to go aboard the Danish gunboat, he ordered the mate to make a dash for it after he went on to the Danish ship. The Caspian set off at full speed, the gunboat fired several shots at the unarmed boat but could not catch up with the trawler, which returned heavily damaged to Grimsby, England. On board the Danish gunboat, the skipper of the Caspian was lashed to the mast, a court held at Thorshavn convicted him on several counts, including illegal fishing and attempted assault, and he was jailed for thirty days. The issue was left largely unresolved, the reduction in fishing activity brought about by the hostilities of the First World War effectively ended the dispute for a time
24.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
25.
Nordic countries
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The Nordic countries or Nordics are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, where they are most commonly known as Norden. They consist of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the population of the Nordic countries are mainly Scandinavian or Finnish, with Greenlandic Inuit and the Sami people as minorities. Of todays native languages, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, the non-Germanic languages spoken are Finnish, Greenlandic and several Sami languages. The main religion is Lutheran Christianity, the Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, their use of Scandinavian languages and social structure. Politically, Nordic countries do not form an entity. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries, Scandinavian Peninsula on the other hand covers mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northernmost part of Finland. At 3,425,804 square kilometers, the area of the Nordic countries would form the 7th-largest country in the world. Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of area, mostly in Greenland. In January 2013, the region had a population of around 26 million people, the Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The North Germanic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible and these languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries. Swedish, for example, is a subject in Finnish schools. Danish is mandatory in Faroese and Greenlandic schools, as these states are a part of the Danish Realm. Iceland also teaches Danish, since Iceland too was a part of the Danish Realm until 1918, there is a high degree of income redistribution and little social unrest. The Nordic countries consists of historical territories of the Scandinavian countries, areas that share a common history and it is meant unambiguously to refer to this larger group, since the term Scandinavia is narrower and sometimes ambiguous. The Nordic countries are considered to unambiguously refer to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the Scandinavian languages, unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning northern dweller, especially outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is often used incorrectly as a synonym for the Nordic countries
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Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
28.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
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Exclusive economic zone
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It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles from its coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the continental shelf, the term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit. The surface waters, as can be seen in the map, are international waters, generally, a states exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, extending seaward to a distance of no more than 200 nautical miles out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this occurs when exclusive economic zones would overlap. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary, generally, any point within an overlapping area defaults to the nearest state. A states exclusive economic zone starts at the edge of its territorial sea. The exclusive economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters, thus, the exclusive economic zones includes the contiguous zone. The idea of allotting nations EEZs to give more control of maritime affairs outside territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century. Initially, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km beyond the shore, in modern times, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles beyond the shore. One of the first assertions of exclusive jurisdiction beyond the territorial seas was made by the United States in the Truman Proclamation of September 28,1945. The exact extent of economic zones is a common source of conflicts between states over marine waters. One well-known example of such dispute was the Cod Wars between the United Kingdom and Iceland, Norway and Russia dispute both territorial sea and EEZ with regard to the Svalbard archipelago as it affects Russias EEZ due to its unique treaty status. A treaty was agreed in principle in April 2010 between the two states and subsequently ratified, resolving this demarcation dispute, the agreement was signed in Murmansk on September 15,2010. The South China Sea is the site of a dispute between several neighboring nations. Croatias ZERP in the Adriatic Sea caused friction with Italy and Slovenia, a wedge-shaped section of the Beaufort Sea is disputed between Canada and the United States, as the area reportedly contains substantial oil reserves. France claims a portion of Canadas EEZ for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon based on a new definition of the continental shelf, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is entirely surrounded by Canadas EEZ. Mauritius claims EEZ for Tromelin from France and EEZ for British Indian Ocean Territory from the UK, Northern Cyprus claims a portion of Cyprus EEZ overlaps with that of Northern Cyprus in the south/southeastern part of the Cyprus island. Turkey claims a portion of Cypruss EEZ overlaps with its own EEZ, Lebanon claims that the agreement between Cyprus and Israel overlapped its own EEZ
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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
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Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
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Barents Sea
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The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters. Known among Russians in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea and it is a rather shallow shelf sea, with an average depth of 230 metres, and is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration. Novaya Zemlya, an extension of the part of the Ural Mountains. The southern half of the Barents Sea, including the ports of Murmansk, in September, the entire Barents Sea is more or less completely ice-free. Until the Winter War, Finlands territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at Petsamo being Finlands only ice-free winter harbor. There are three types of water masses in the Barents Sea, Warm, salty Atlantic water from the North Atlantic drift, cold Arctic water from the north, and warm. Between the Atlantic and Polar waters, a front called the Polar Front is formed, the lands of Novaya Zemlya attained most of their early Holocene coastal deglaciation approximately 10,000 years before present. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Barentsz Sea as follows, On the west, on the northwest, The eastern shore of West Spitzbergen, Hinlopen Strait up to 80° latitude north, south and east coasts of North-East Land to Cape Leigh Smith. On the north, Cape Leigh Smith across the Islands Bolshoy Ostrov, Gilles and Victoria, on the east, Cape Kohlsaat to Cape Zhelaniya, west and southwest coast of Novaya Zemlya to Cape Kussov Noss and thence to western entrance Cape, Dolgaya Bay on Vaigach Island. Through Vaigach Island to Cape Greben, thence to Cape Belyi Noss on the mainland, on the south, The northern limit of the White Sea. Other islands in the Barents Sea include Chaichy and Timanets, most of its geological history is dominated by extensional tectonics, caused by the collapse of the Caledonian and Uralian orogenic belts and the break-up of Pangaea. These events created the rift basins that dominate the Barents Shelf, along with various platforms. Due to the North Atlantic drift, the Barents Sea has a high biological production compared to other oceans of similar latitude. The spring bloom of phytoplankton can start quite early close to the ice edge, the phytoplankton bloom feeds zooplankton such as Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus glacialis, Calanus hyperboreus, Oithona spp. and krill. The zooplankton feeders include young cod, capelin, polar cod, whales, the capelin is a key food for top predators such as the north-east Arctic cod, harp seals, and seabirds such as common guillemot and Brunnichs guillemot. The fisheries of the Barents Sea, in particular the cod fisheries, are of importance for both Norway and Russia. There is a genetically distinct polar bear population associated with the Barents Sea and its eastern corner, in the region of the Pechora Rivers estuary, has been known as Pechorskoye Morye, that is, Pechora Sea. This sea was given its present name in honor of Willem Barentsz, Barentsz was the leader of early expeditions to the far north, at the end of the sixteenth century
33.
Environmentalism
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While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. ‘Ecologism’ is more used in continental European languages while ‘environmentalism’ is more commonly used in English. For this reason, concepts such as an ethic, environmental ethics, biodiversity, ecology. The exact measures and outcomes of this balance is controversial and there are different ways for environmental concerns to be expressed in practice. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are represented by the color green. Environmentalism denotes a movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism. The word was first coined in 1922, an environmentalist is a person who may speak out about our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behavior. In various ways, environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the world a stronger voice in human affairs. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, in its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around ecology, health, and human rights. A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, for example, in Europe, King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a problem. The fuel was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from some shores by the wheelbarrow. Earlier in the Middle East, the Caliph Abu Bakr in the 630s commanded his army to Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, at the advent of steam and electricity the muse of history holds her nose and shuts her eyes. The origins of the movement lay in the response to increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. An Alkali inspector and four sub-inspectors were appointed to curb this pollution, typically the highest priority went to water and air pollution. The Coal Smoke Abatement Society was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs and it was founded by artist Sir William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were pieces of legislation, the Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. It also provided for sanctions against factories that emitted large amounts of black smoke, financial incentives were offered to householders to replace open coal fires with alternatives, or for those who preferred, to burn coke instead which produces minimal smoke. Smoke control areas were introduced in some towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burnt, the act formed an important impetus to modern environmentalism, and caused a rethinking of the dangers of environmental degradation to peoples quality of life
34.
International Whaling Commission
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The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed in Washington, D. C. United States, on December 2,1946 to provide for the conservation of whale stocks. In 1982 the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling, currently, Japan, Russia, and a number of other nations oppose this moratorium. The IWC allows non-zero whaling quotas for aboriginal subsistence and also member nations may issue Scientific Permits to their citizens, Japan has issued such permits since 1986, Norway and Iceland whale under objection to the moratorium and issue their own quotas. In 1994, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was created by the IWC, the main duty of the IWC is to keep under review and revise as necessary the measures laid down in the Schedule to the Convention which govern the conduct of whaling throughout the world. The compilation of reports and other statistical and biological records is also required. The headquarters of the IWC is in Impington, near Cambridge, the Commission has three main committees — Scientific, Technical, and Finance and Administration. Participation in the IWC is not limited to states involved in whaling, membership in the IWC has doubled since 2001 with an average of almost 6 states per year joining the IWC from 2002 to 2008. As of July 2013 there were 88 members, traditionally, the IWC meets annually, usually in May or June. Meetings are composed of one voting representative from state party who may be accompanied by experts. They are generally extremely divisive — demonstrating a complete split on all issues between the pro-whaling nations and their supporters and the anti-whaling nations. Non-governmental organisations that maintain offices in more than three countries may attend the annual meetings of the IWC. In 2012, the Commission agreed to move from annual to biennial Commission Meetings, the Scientific Committee continues to meet annually. In years where both meetings are held, a period of at least 100 days separates the two and this is to allow time to read and digest the reports of the Scientific Committee Meeting, before the Commission Meeting begins. Members of the International Whaling Commission have met every year since 1949, in recent years, the meetings have attracted international media attention due to the growth of the anti-whaling movement. The IWC also holds special meetings. From 2012 onwards, it was decided that the annual Commission Meetings would go to biennial Commission Meetings, for a full list of the venues of the IWCs annual and special meetings, see here The 1970s saw the beginning of the global anti-whaling movement. In 1972 the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm adopted a proposal that recommended a moratorium on commercial whaling to allow whale stocks to recover
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Greenland
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Greenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Danish Realm between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for more than a millennium. The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century, Greenland is the worlds largest island. Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480, it is the least densely populated country in the world, the Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland, connecting the various cities and settlements. Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada, Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, and Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century, soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador. In the early 18th century, Scandinavian explorers reached Greenland again, to strengthen trading and power, Denmark-Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Greenland was settled by Vikings more than a thousand years ago, Vikings set sail from Greenland and Iceland, discovering North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached Caribbean islands. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262, the Kingdom of Norway was extensive and a military power until the mid-14th century. Thus, the two kingdoms resources were directed at creating Copenhagen, Norway became the weaker part and lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became a Danish colony in 1814, and was made a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark, in 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC which was effected in 1985, Greenland contains the worlds largest and most northernly national park, Northeast Greenland National Park. Greenland is divided into four municipalities - Sermersooq, Kujalleq, Qaasuitsup and it also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time. Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources, the capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, the early Viking settlers named the island as Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was said to be exiled from Iceland for manslaughter, along with his extended family and his thralls, he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding an area and settling there, he named it Grœnland
36.
Faroe Islands
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The Faroe Islands, also spelled the Faeroes, is an archipelago between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, about halfway between Norway and Iceland,320 kilometres north-northwest of Scotland. Its area is about 1,400 square kilometres with a population of 49,188 in 2016, the Faeroe Islands is an autonomous country within the Danish Realm. The land of the Faeroes is rugged, and these islands have an oceanic climate, windy, wet, cloudy. Despite this island groups northerly latitude, temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream, between 1035 and 1814, the Faeroes were part of the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway. In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the islands, the Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. The Faroese have control of most domestic matters, areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, the police department, the justice department, currency, and foreign affairs. However, as they are not part of the customs area as Denmark, the Faroe Islands have an independent trade policy. The islands also have representation in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation, the people of the Faroe Islands also compete as national team in certain sports. In Danish, the name Færøerne may reflect an Old Norse word fær, the morpheme øerne represents a plural of ø in Danish. The Danish name thus translates as the islands of sheep, in Faroese, the name appears as Føroyar. Oyar represents the plural of oy, older Faroese for island, the modern Faeroese word for island is oyggj. In the English language, their name is sometimes spelled Faeroe, archaeological evidence shows settlers living on the Faroe Islands in two successive periods prior to the arrival of the Norse, the first between 400 and 600 and the second between 600 and 800. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen have also found early cereal pollen from domesticated plants, archaeologist Mike Church noted that Dicuil mentioned what may have been the Faroes. He also suggested that the living there might have been from Ireland, Scotland or Scandinavia. A Latin account of a made by Brendan, an Irish monastic saint who lived around 484–578. This association, however, is far from conclusive in its description, Dicuil, an Irish monk of the early 9th century, wrote a more definite account. 800, bringing Old West Norse, which evolved into the modern Faroese language, according to Icelandic sagas such as Færeyjar Saga, one of the best known men in the island was Tróndur í Gøtu, a descendant of Scandinavian chiefs who had settled in Dublin, Ireland. Tróndur led the battle against Sigmund Brestursson, the Norwegian monarchy, a traditional name for the islands in Irish, Na Scigirí, possibly refers to the Skeggjar Beards, a nickname given to island dwellers
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