Iceland
Island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, situated south of the
Arctic Circle, between Greenland and Norway.
Government
The 1944 constitution provides for a president, as head of state, and
a legislature, the 60-member Althing, both elected by universal
suffrage for a four-year term. Voting is by a system of proportional
representation that ensures, as nearly as possible, equality between
the proportions of the votes cast and seats won. Once elected,
the Althing divides into an upper house of 21 members and a lower
house of 40. The upper-house members are chosen by the Althing
itself, and the remainder of 40 automatically constitute the lower
house. Members may speak in either house but vote only in the
one for which they have been chosen. Legislation must pass through
three stages in each house before being submitted to the president
for ratification. On some occasions the Althing sits as a single
house. The president appoints the prime minister and cabinet on
the basis of parliamentary support, and they are collectively
responsible to the Althing.
History
Around the end of the 8th century Irish monks made some settlements
in Iceland, but Iceland received the greatest portion of its population
from Norway between 870 and 930, during the era of Viking expansion
and exploration.
The early period of settlement
The first Norwegian settlement was made in 870 by Ingolf on the southern
coast, and was established permanently four years later at what
is now Reykjavik. Other settlers soon followed, and in the course
of 60 years all the habitable parts of the coast were settled.
At this stage the settlers still worshipped the old Norse gods,
and government was at first in the hands of the overseer of the
temple in each settlement. Later, when the separate jurisdictions
were joined together, a kind of aristocratic republic was formed,
known as the Icelandic Commonwealth. A supreme representative
assembly, the Althing, was founded in 930 and is claimed to be
the oldest parliament in the world. Christianity was adopted as
the national religion by the Althing in 1000 after a heated debate,
and a bishopric was established in 1056. It was from Iceland that
in around 982 Eric the Red embarked on his westward voyage, during
which he discovered Greenland.
Danish rule and national awakening
In the 12th century power became increasingly concentrated in the hands
of a few rich landowners, who engaged in bitter power struggles.
Haakon IV of Norway took advantage of these dissensions to make
Iceland a Norwegian protectorate in 1262. When the crowns of Denmark
and Norway were united in 1380, power passed, in effect, to the
Danish throne. Iceland languished under Danish rule, being forced
to accept Lutheranism in 1550 by Christian III, and suffering
under a ruinous Danish trade monopoly in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Iceland remained attached to Denmark after Norway became independent
in 1814.
Under the leadership of the great scholar and statesman Jón
Sigurdsson (1811-79) the 19th century was a time of great national
awakening in Iceland. But the country was poor, isolated, and
materially backward, though the standard of popular education
had always been high. Sigurdsson was followed as national leader
by Bjorn Jonsson, whose work was continued by his son, Sveinn
Björnsson (1881-1952), as well as by the poet Hannes Hafstein
(1861-1952). Under more tolerable economic conditions the pace
of progress became faster.
The early 20th century
In 1918 Iceland again became a sovereign state, but united as a constitutional
monarchy to Denmark with one king. World War I brought some trade
benefit to Iceland. Previously it had been without its own merchant
fleet, and thus dependent upon Denmark, but it now set about building
one. The fishing fleet was expanded and modernized, and means
of communication were improved. In sparsely populated and mountainous
districts, roads for motor traffic were begun, and reclamation
of land was accelerated. Inland passenger traffic by air began
in 1928, but for another 12 years it was on a small scale, largely
because there were no airfields and no capital available for making
them.
World War II and independence
After the outbreak of World War II and the occupation of Denmark by
the Germans (April 1940), the Icelandic government assumed control
of its own foreign relations. Soon afterwards the island was occupied
by British naval and military forces to forestall a German landing
there. In 1941 the Althing decided to establish a republic; however,
pending the formal annulment of the union with Denmark, a regent
was appointed from year to year.
During the war US troops joined the British forces occupying
Iceland. The British guarantee of the future of Iceland's independence
was repeated by US President Roosevelt, who said that the US government
did not wish to see any change in the existing sovereignty of
the country. Iceland became a key strategic staging post in the
lifeline between the USA and Britain.
By a referendum held on 23 May 1944 the Act of Union of 1918
was repealed and a new constitution adopted providing for a republican
form of government. Iceland become fully independent on 17 June
1944, and Sveinn Björnsson became its first president. Executive
power was put in the hands of a ministry in Reykjavik, responsible
to the national legislative assembly or Althing, which comprised
two houses.
Postwar developments
World War II and the Anglo- American occupation effected revolutionary
changes in Iceland. Capital flowed into the country and the US
forces brought powerful machinery for road-making and similar
purposes. Farm machinery of the larger type could be bought and
land reclamation undertaken on a large scale. Roads could now
be constructed 20 times more rapidly than before. Large-scale
electrification and housing schemes were embarked upon in all
parts of Iceland.
In 1949 Iceland became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the Council of Europe, and in 1958 it agreed
to US forces being stationed there. It joined the Nordic Council
in 1953, and became a founder-member of the European Free Trade
Association (EFTA) in 1960.
The Cod Wars
Most of Iceland's external problems have been connected with the overfishing
of the waters around its coasts. The Icelandic government's decision
to extend Iceland's fishing limits from 6.4 to 19.3 km/4 to 12
mi as from 11 September 1953 led to a prolonged dispute with Britain,
whose trawlers were those most affected. There was considerable
bitterness on both sides before the dispute was ended on 11 March
1961. Britain then withdrew its objections to the 19.3 km/12 mi
limit, but was permitted certain fishery concessions within the
new limits for the following three years.
Trouble arose again in 1973 over Iceland's decision to extend
its limits to 80.5 km/50 mi, but a temporary agreement was reached
with Britain for limited fishing rights within the 80.5 km. In
1975, however, Iceland announced its decision to extend its limits
to 322 km/200 mi, its fears about overfishing being exacerbated
by declining fish exports, heavy devaluation, and rampant inflation.
In November of that year the 1973 agreement expired, and failure
to reach a new agreement led to the third and most serious `Cod
War´. In February 1976 Iceland broke off diplomatic relations
with Britain (the first ever diplomatic break between two NATO
countries). A temporary agreement in June, accompanied by a resumption
of diplomatic relations, was followed by renewed negotiations,
and by the end of the year Britain agreed to recognize the 322
km/200 mi limit.
Politics since independence
Since independence Iceland has been governed by coalitions of the leading
parties, sometimes right- and sometimes left-wing groupings, but
mostly moderate. The centre and right-of-centre parties are the
Independent Party (IP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP),
while those to the left are the Progressive Party (PP) and the
People's Alliance (PA). More recent additions include the Women's
Alliance.
Domestically, governments have been faced with the recurring
problem of inflation. In 1985 the Althing unanimously declared
the country a nuclear-free zone, banning the entry of all nuclear
weapons.
The 1987 elections ended control of the Althing by the Independence
and Progressive parties, giving more influence to the minor parties,
including the Women's Alliance, which doubled its seat tally.
In June 1988 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was re- elected president for
a third four-year term with 92.7% of the vote. Steingrí mur Hermannsson
became prime minister. Following a general election in April 1991
he was replaced by Davíd Oddsson, who formed a centre-right IP-SDP
coalition government. A new IP-PP coalition was formed under Oddsson
after the April 1995 general election.
In 1992 Iceland announced its defiance of a worldwide ban on
whaling in order to resume its own whaling industry.
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