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The Republic of Iceland is an island nation in northern Europe, comprising the island of Iceland itself as well as its outlying islets in the North Atlantic Ocean between the rest of Europe and Greenland. Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey (which is off Iceland's northern coast) but not through mainland Iceland itself.

Located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale: this activity defines the landscape. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude and provides a habitable environment.

Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be politically and culturally a part of Europe, rather than the North American continent, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents.

The closest bodies of land are Greenland (180 miles) and the Faroe Islands (250 miles). The shortest distance to mainland Europe is about 600 miles (to Norway). Iceland is the least populous of the Nordic countries and the smallest: it has a population of about 300 thousand.

The occupation of Iceland began in the late ninth century when a Norwegian chieftain became the first permanent settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over the winter. Over the next centuries, people of Nordic and Gaelic origin settled in Iceland and from 1262 to 1918 the country was a part of the Norwegian and later the Danish kingdoms.

Until the twentieth century, the Icelandic population relied on fisheries and agriculture. In the twentieth century, Iceland's economy and welfare system developed quickly. Iceland has become one of the most developed nations in the world and one of the most egalitarian, according to the Ginni coefficient. Based upon a mixed economy where service, finance, fishing and various industries are the main sectors, it is also the fourth most productive country per capita. Icelanders have a rich culture and heritage. Iceland is a member of the UN, NATO and the OECD, but not of the European Union.

Iceland is the world's 18th largest island, and Europe's second largest island following Great Britain. The country is 40 thousand square miles in area, of which over 60% is wasteland. Lakes and glaciers cover 15% and only one quarter is covered by vegetation. The largest lakes are Þórisvatn (Reservoir) of over 30 square miles and Þingvallavatn which is of a similar size.

Many fjords indent the coast line, along which most Icelandic towns are have grown. The island's interior, the Highlands of Iceland, is a cold and uninhabitable region with a combination of sands and mountains. The major towns are the capital Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Akureyri.

Iceland has four National Parks: Jökulsárgljúfur, Skaftafell, Snæfellsjökull and Þingvellir.

The climate of Iceland's coast is cold oceanic. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures generally higher annual temperatures than in most places of similar latitude in the world. The winters are mild and windy while the summers are damp and cool. Despite its proximity to the Arctic, the island's coasts remain ice-free through the winter. The south coast is warmer, wetter and windier than the north. Low-lying inland areas in the north are the most arid. Snowfall in winter is more common in the north than the south. The Central Highlands are the coldest part of the country.

The animals of Iceland include the Icelandic sheep, cattle, and the sturdy Icelandic horse. Many varieties of fish live in the ocean waters surrounding Iceland, and the fishing industry is a main contributor to Iceland’s economy, accounting for more than half of its total exports. Wild mammals include the arctic fox, mink, mice, rats, rabbits and reindeer. Before and around the 1900s polar bears occasionally visited the island, travelling on icebergs from Greenland. Birds, especially sea birds, are a very important part of Iceland's animal life. Puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes nest on its sea cliffs.

In 1814, following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the Treaty of Kiel. Iceland remained a Danish dependency. A new independence movement arose. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule. The Act of Union, an agreement with Denmark signed in December 1918, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state.

During World War II, the German occupation of Denmark in 1940 cut communications between Iceland and Denmark. At that point Iceland's parliament declared that the Icelandic government should exercise the authority that hitherto had been that of the Danish King and take control over issues previously handled by Denmark on behalf of Iceland, especially principally foreign affairs. A month later, British military forces occupied Iceland, violating Icelandic neutrality. Allied occupation of Iceland lasted throughout the war. In 1941, responsibility for the occupation was taken over by the United States Army. On December 31, 1943 the Act of Union agreement expired after 25 years. In 1944 a plebiscite voted on whether the union with Denmark should be terminated and whether a republic should be established. The vote was in favour of ending the union and in favour of the new republican constitution. Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944. The occupation force left in 1946. Iceland became a member of NATO in 1949 and in May 1951, a defence agreement was signed with the United States: American troops returned and stayed as part of that agreement throughout the Cold War and until autumn 2006.

The immediate post-war period was followed by substantial economic growth, driven by industrialization of the fishing industry and the financial benefits of Marshall Aid and Keynesian government management of the economies of Europe, all of which promoted trade. The 1970s were marked by the Cod Wars – several disputes with the United Kingdom over Iceland's extension of its fishing limits. The economy was greatly diversified and liberalized following Iceland's joining of the European Economic Area in 1992.

Iceland is a representative democracy and a parliamentary republic. The modern parliament, called "Alþingi" (English: Althing), was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish king.

The President of Iceland is a largely ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat, figurehead and head of state, but who can also block a law voted by the parliament and put it to a national referendum. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who, together with the cabinet, manages the executive part of government. The cabinet is appointed by the President after general elections to Althing. However, this process is usually conducted by the leaders of the political parties, who decide among themselves after discussions which parties can form the cabinet and how its seats are to be distributed, under the condition that it has a majority support in Althing. Only when the party leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in reasonable time does the President exercise this power and appoint the cabinet himself. This has not happened since the republic was founded in 1944.

The governments of Iceland have almost always been coalitions with two or more parties involved, due to the fact that no single political party has received a majority of seats in Althing.

Iceland has a left-right multi-party system. The biggest party is the right wing Independence Party (’’Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn’’), while the second largest one is the social democratic Alliance (‘’Samfylkingin’’). Following the May 2007 parliamentary elections, these two formed a coalition, enjoying a strong majority in Althing, with 43 out of 63 members supporting it.

Other political parties that have a seat in Althing are the centrist Progressive Party (‘’Framsóknarflokkurinn’’), which had been in government with the Independence Party for 12 years before the 2007 election, the Left-Green Movement (‘’Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð’’), founded in 1999, and the Centre-right Liberal Party. Many other parties exist on the municipal level, most of which only run locally in a single municipality.

Iceland maintains diplomatic and commercial relations with practically all nations, but its ties with the Nordic countries, Germany, the US, and with the other NATO nations are particularly close. Icelanders remain especially proud of the role Iceland played in hosting the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavík, which set the stage for the end of the Cold War. Iceland's principal historical international disputes involved disagreements over fishing rights. Conflict with Britain led to the so-called Cod Wars from 1952 to 1956 because of extension of fishing zone from 3 to 4 nautical miles; 1958-1961 because of extending the fishing zone to 12 nautical miles; in 1972-1973 because of extension to 50 nautical miles; and in 1975 to 1976 because of extension to 200 nautical miles.

Iceland has no standing army. The U.S. Air Force maintained four to six Interceptors at the Keflavík base, until September 2006 when they were withdrawn. Iceland supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iceland has also participated in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.

Iceland's official written and spoken language is Icelandic, a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse. It has changed less from Old Norse than the other Nordic languages, has preserved more verb and noun inflection, and has to a considerable extent developed new vocabulary based on native roots rather than borrowings from English. It is the only living language to retain the runic letter Þ. The closest living language to Icelandic is Faroese. English is widely spoken as a secondary language, and many Icelanders speak it at an almost native level. Danish is also widely understood. Studying both these languages is a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Other commonly spoken languages are German, Norwegian and Swedish. Danish is mostly spoken in a way also largely comprehensible to Swedes and Norwegians – it is often referred to as "Scandinavian" in Iceland.

In addition to Icelandic, many immigrants speak their respective native languages.

Icelanders enjoy freedom of religion under the constitution, though there is no separation of church and state. The National Church of Iceland, a Lutheran body, is the state church. Religious attendance is relatively low, like in other Nordic countries; the statistics represent administrative membership of religious organizations and not the actual belief demographics of the population of Iceland.

Iceland is the most developed society in the world, ranked first on the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Icelanders are the second longest-living nation with a life expectancy of over 80 years.

Iceland is a very technologically advanced society: Iceland has over 80% penetration per capita of PC’s and over 100% for mobile phone subscriptions- the 16th highest in the world. The social structure of Iceland is very dependent upon transportation, especially the car. Icelanders have more than one car per inhabitant older than 18 years, one of the highest figures in the world. Most Icelanders travel by car to work, to school or to other activities.

Iceland is a welfare state and its population enjoys a wide range of benefits: old-age pensions, unemployment benefits and generous housing subsidies. Icelanders have access to excellent healthcare and education. These are financed by progressively rising rates of taxation, similar to other Northern European states (such as Sweden), making Iceland one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, according to the Ginni coefficient. Nursery school or leikskóli is optional for children younger than six years and is the first step in the education system. These schools are also responsible for ensuring that the curriculum is suitable so as to make the transition into compulsory education as easy as possible.

Compulsory education, or grunnskóli, comprises primary and lower secondary education, which often is conducted at the same institution. Education is mandatory by law for children aged from 6 to 16 years. The school year lasts nine months and the minimum number of school days is 180. Lessons take place five days a week. The OECD currently ranks the Icelandic secondary education as the 27th in the world. Upper secondary education or framhaldsskóli follows on from lower secondary education. Attendance is not compulsory, but everyone who has had a compulsory education has the right to upper secondary education. All schools in Iceland are mixed sex schools.

Most rural towns are based on the fishing industry; historically its economy has been heavily dependant on fishing, which still provides almost 40% of export earnings and employs 8% of the work force. The economy is vulnerable to declining fish stocks and drops in world prices for its main material exports: fish and fish products. Its importance is diminishing as the travel industry and other service, technology and various other industries grow including banking and international investment. Economic growth slowed in the early years of the twenty-first century and has expanded by over 4% in recent years. The unemployment rate of about 1% is among the lowest in the world.

The generally faster economic growth that it has experienced in recent decades has financed the upgrading of infrastructure such as transportation.

Iceland's economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, including software production, biotechnology, and financial services. The tourism sector is expanding, with the recent trends in eco-tourism and whale-watching. Iceland's agriculture industry consists mainly of potatoes, turnips, green vegetables (in greenhouses), lamb and dairy products.

The financial centre is Reykjavik, hosting a large number of companies and three investment banks. Iceland's stock market, the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE), was established in 1985.

The main mode of transport in Iceland is road. Iceland has 8 thousand miles of maintained roads, of which about 35% is paved and the major part is not paved. Route 1 or the Ring Road is a main road in Iceland that runs around the island and connects all inhabited parts. The road is 840 miles long. Most of the road's length is paved with asphalt, but some stretches in the east still have a gravel surface.

The main hub for international transportation is Keflavík International Airport, near to Reykjavík and serves the whole of the country. There are also domestic and regional flights to Greenland and the Faroe Islands. There are 86 airport runways in Iceland; most of them are grass or unpaved and are located in rural areas.

Renewable energy provides over 70% of the nation's primary energy and almost all of the country's electricity is produced from hydropower and geothermal energy. Iceland's largest geothermal power plant is located in Nesjavellir, while the Kárahnjúkar dam will be the country's largest hydroelectric power plant.

Icelanders still emit 10.0 tonnes of “Co2 equivalent” of greenhouse gasses per capita, higher than either France or Spain. This is caused by the wide use of personal transport. Iceland is currently the only country that has filling stations dispensing hydrogen fuel for cars powered by fuel cells. It is also one of only a few countries currently capable of producing hydrogen in adequate quantities at reasonable cost, because of Iceland's plentiful geothermal energy.

Icelandic music is related to Nordic music, and includes vibrant folk and pop traditions, including medieval music groups. Traditional Icelandic music is strongly religious.

Other core traditions of Icelandic music are epic alliterative and rhyming ballads called rímur which are epic tales and can be traced back to skaldic poetry, using complex metaphors and elaborate rhyme schemes. A modern revitalization of the tradition began in 1929 with the formation of the organization Iðunn.

Icelandic contemporary music consists of a big group of bands, ranging from pop-rock groups such as Bang Gang, Quarashi and Amiina to solo ballad singers like Bubbi Morthens, Megas and Björgvin Halldórsson. Many Icelandic artists and bands have had great success internationally, most notably Björk and Sigur Rós. The main music festival is arguably Iceland Airwaves, a yearly event on the Icelandic music scene, where Icelandic bands along with foreign ones occupy the clubs of Reykjavík for a week.

Iceland’s largest television stations are the state-run Sjónvarpið and the privately owned Stöð 2 and Skjár einn. Smaller stations exist, many of them being local. Radio is broadcast throughout the country, including parts of the interior. The main radio stations are Rás 1, Rás 2 and Bylgjan. The daily newspapers are Morgunblaðið, Fréttablaðið and 24 stundir. The most popular websites are the news sites Vísir and Mbl.is.

Iceland is home to the television station Nick Jr.'s animated program LazyTown (Icelandic: Latibær), a children's television program created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a very popular program for children and adults, and is shown in over 98 countries, including the UK, Canada, Sweden, the US and Latin America.

Sport is an important part of Icelandic culture. The main traditional sport in Iceland is Glíma, a form of wrestling, thought to have originated in medieval times. Popular sports are football, track and field, handball and basketball. Others are golf, tennis, swimming, chess and horseback riding on Icelandic horses. Team handball is often referred to as a national sport and Iceland's team is one of the top-ranked teams in the world, and Icelandic women are surprisingly good at football relative to the size of the country; the national team ranked the 18th best by FIFA. Iceland has excellent conditions for ice and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking is preferred by the general public. The oldest sport association in Iceland is the Reykjavik Shooting Association, founded in 1867. Rifle shooting became very popular in the 19th century and was heavily encouraged by politicians and others pushing for Icelandic independence. Shooting remains popular and all types of shooting with small arms is practised in the country.

Translation projects undertaken in Iceland include web site content, sales and marketing material, documentation requirements for engineering and manufacturing.

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