Study in Iceland

INTRODUCTION TO ICELAND :

Background: Settled by Norwegians and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries, Iceland boasts the world's oldest parliament, the Althing, established in 930. Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Limited home rule was granted in 1874 and complete independence attained in 1944. Literacy, longevity, income, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards.

People

Population: 276,365 (July 2000 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 23% (male 33,119; female 31,222) 15-64 years: 65% (male 90,599; female 88,982) 65 years and over: 12% (male 14,555; female 17,888) (2000 est.) Population growth rate: 0.57% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 14.86 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: -2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2000 est.) Infant mortality rate: 3.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.39 years male: 77.19 years female: 81.77 years (2000 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.03 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality: noun: Icelander(s) adjective: Icelandic Ethnic groups: homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norwegians and Celts Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic, none (1997) Languages: Icelandic Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.9% (1997 est.) male: NA% female: NA%

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 162,310 (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 65,746 (1997) Telephone system: adequate domestic service domestic: the trunk network consists of coaxial and fiber-optic cables and microwave radio relay links international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Iceland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998) Radios: 260,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 14 (plus 156 low-power repeaters) (1997) Televisions: 98,000 (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (1999)

Transportation

Railways: 0 km Highways: total: 12,689 km paved: 3,439 km unpaved: 9,250 km (1998 est.) Ports and harbors: Akureyri, Hornafjordur, Isafjordhur, Keflavik, Raufarhofn, Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur, Straumsvik, Vestmannaeyjar Merchant marine: total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 13,085 GRT/16,938 DWT ships by type: chemical tanker 1, container 1, petroleum tanker 1 (1999 est.) Airports: 86 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways: total: 12 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (1999 est.) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 74 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 52 (1999 est.)