Economic statistics - 01.02.1995, Qupperneq 2

Government
ln 1918 lceland became a sovereign state in union with
Denmark, and full independence was declared in 1944.
The legislative power of the country is vested in the
Parliament, the Althing, which consists of 63 members and since
1991 sits in one chamber only. The Althing is chosen by popu-
lar vote for a term of four years. Presently, five political parties
are represented in the Althing. The present government is a
coalition government consisting of the Independency Party and
the Social Democratic Party. Prime Minister is Mr. Davíd
Oddsson.
The highest office in the state is that of the Presidency with
similar powers as a constitutional monarch. The President is
elected by popular vote for a term of four years. The fourth and
the present President of the Republic of lceland is Mrs. Vigdfs
Finnbogadóttir, first elected in 1980.
The seat of the Government is in Reykjavík, the Capital.
Election results in terms of representation in the Althing.
1979 1983 1987 1991
The Independency Party 22 23 18 26
The Progressive Party 17 14 13 13
The People's Alliance 11 10 8 9
The Social Democratic Party 10 6 10 10
The Citizens' Party - 7 -
The Women's Alliance 3 6 5
Other 4 1 -
Total members of Althing 60 60 63 63
Geography
Thousands ofsquare kiiometers
Geographic size...................................... 103.0
Thereof:
Altitude 0-200 meters.............................. 24.7
Altitude 200-400 meters........................ 18.4
Altitude above 400 meters.......................... 59.9
Glaciers.............................................. 12.0
Lavafields............................................ 11.0
Lakes.................................................. 3.0
Cultivated area........................................ 1.1
Cultivatable area..................................... 20.0
The seabed out to 200 meter depth.................... 111.0
The seabed out to 400 meter depth................. 183.0
The fishing zone (200 miles)......................... 758.0
Shortest distance to:
Greenland................................... 287 kilometers
Faeroe Islands.............................. 420 kilometers
Jan Mayen................................... 550 kilometers
Scotland.................................... 798 kilometers
Norway...................................... 970 kilometers
Occupational distribution 1991
Agriculture................................. 5.4 per cent
Fisheries and processing.............. 11.5 per cent
Manufacturing......................... 12.5 per cent
Construction................................ 9.8 per cent
Commerce.............................. 14.6 per cent
Communications........................ 6.9percent
Services and other......................... 39.3 per cent
100.0 per cent
Language
The language in lceland is lcelandic, which belongs to the
North Germanic branch of the Indo-European family.
Education
Education in lceland is compulsory up to the age of 16. There
are two universities. One is located in Reykjavík and the other
in Akureyri. Total enrollment is 5400 students.
Membership in international organizations
The United nations (1946), The Nordic Council (1952), IMF
(1945), The World Bank(1945), IFC (1956), IDA (1961), GATT
(1964), OECD (1949), EFTA (1970), Council of Europe (1950),
NATO (1949).
Currency
The lcelandic currency is the króna. At the beginning of 1981
1 króna was roughly equivalent to 16 U.S. cents. (See further-
more, the table on exchange rates on page 17).
The Central Bank of lceland
The responsibility of note issue in lceland is in the hands of
the Central Bank (Sedlabanki íslands) which carries out all the
traditional central banking functions, being the principal mone-
tary authority in the country; the T reasury's and the banks' bank.
The Central Bank was formally established in 1961, but before
that the central banking functions were carried out within the
National Bank, currently the largestcommercial bank in lceland.
The Board of Directors is elected by the Althing for a term of four
years. It's current chairman is Mr. Thröstur Ólafsson. The
Governors of the Bank are appointed by the Minister of
Commerce and Banking. Governors are: Mr. Birgir ísleifur
Gunnarsson, Mr. Eiríkur Gudnason and Mr. Steingrímur
Hermannsson.
The Bank publishes a monthly bulletin of statistics, Hagtölur
mánadarins, in lcelandic; a quarterly one, Economic Statistics,
in English; an economicjournal, Fjármálatídindi, in lcelandicand
an annual report in lcelandic and an abridged English version.
All these publications can be obtained from the Economics
Department of the Bank.
The nation
Population December 1st 1994.................... 266786
Thereof Reykjavík and neighb. localities......... 155899
Life expectancy, males................. 75.08 years
Life expectancy, females............... 80.79 years
Average annual population growth:
1980-1985................................ 1.10percent
1985-1990........................... 1.11 percent
1990 ............................... 0.87percent
1991 .......................... 1.51 percent
1992 .......................... 1.01 percent
1993 ............................... 1.04percent
1994 ............................... 0.70percent
Banking
There are four commercial banks in lceland, of which two are
state-owned (Landsbanki and Búnadarbanki) and two are
privately owned, [slandsbanki hf. and Sparisjódabanki íslands
hf., which was formed in 1994. It is owned by the 30 savings
banks in lceland and functions on their behalf.
All krónur amounts in this bulletin are expressed in new krónur
following the currency reform which became effective on
January 1st, 1981 (see Economic Statistics, November 1980, p.
32, and February 1981, p. 2).
Due to rounding, figures in individual tables may not add
exactly up to the total.