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| | Background Settled by Norwegian and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries A.D., Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althing, established in 930. Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Fallout from the Askja volcano of 1875 devastated the Icelandic economy and caused widespread famine. Over the next quarter century, 20% of the island's population emigrated, mostly to Canada and the US. Limited home rule from Denmark was granted in 1874 and complete independence attained in 1944. Literacy, longevity, income, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards. The People | Population | 301,931 (July 2007 est.) | | Age structure | 0-14 years: 21.4% (male 32,759/female 31,845)
15-64 years: 66.8% (male 102,161/female 99,411)
65 years and over: 11.8% (male 16,162/female 19,593) (2007 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth | total population: 80.43 years
male: 78.33 years
female: 82.62 years (2007 est.) | Population growth rate | 0.824% (2007 est.) | | Ethnic groups | homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6% | | Religions | Lutheran Church of Iceland 85.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.1%, Roman Catholic Church 2%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.5%, other Christian 2.7%, other or unspecified 3.8%, unaffiliated 2.4% (2004) | | Population below poverty line | NA% | | People living with HIV/AIDS | 220 (2001 est.) | | HIV/AIDS - deaths | less than 100 (2003 est.) | | Mobile phones in use | 328,500 (2006) | | Internet users | 194,000 (2006) |
Data (Background & The People) provided by The World Factbook |
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