The Iceland year-book - 01.01.1927, Blaðsíða 64

a certain standard of knowledge is required at
entry. From the elementary school the system is a
progressive one, terminating with the university.
The principal schools are: — a central college
or gymnasium, 3 high schools, 2 ladies’ schools,
2 agricultural schools, 2 commercial schools, a
teachers’ training college, a school of navigation,
a school of maritime engineering, and a technical
institute. There is a number of minor continua-
tion schools.
The University was founded in 1911 and has
four faculties: •— theology, law, medicine, and
arts. Professors and instructors number 20, and
students 140. There are almost constantly one or
more foreigners studying Icelandic, but otherwise
the students have, of course, been almost ex-
clusively Icelanders.
Small public libraries are to he found in almost
every parish, and in addition every province
(sysla) has its special public library. As a rule
these libraries are stocked with foreign hooks as
well as Icelandic, especially Scandinavian and
English, though some also stock German and
(more rarely) French literature. All public
libraries receive some support from public funds.
Generally speaking the people have a voracious
appetite for reading, and the number of hooks,
papers and periodicals published annually is
incredibly large in proportion to the population
of the country.
The Established Church is the Evangelical
Lutheran, which is supported by the State. There
is, however, full religious liberty, in so far as
everybody is allowed to worship according to his
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