Iceland#tag:refThe countrys official name is Iceland. Although many sources?including the CIA World Factbook (The World Factbook), Encyclopedia Britannica, and the United Nations?give "Republic of Iceland" (or "L��veldi� �sland" in Icelandic (Icelandic language)) as the official name, this conventional long name is actually not the official name of the country. The word "republic" is used only descriptively of the countrys form of government and is not part of the countrys actual name. This has been explained in a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister of Iceland to Ari P�ll Kristinsson, Associate Professor at the �rni Magn�sson Institute for Icelandic Studies.group=note (Audio-IPAen-us-Iceland.ogg/?a?sl?nd/) (lang-is�sland (names of Iceland (Names for Iceland)); IPA2?islant) is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of convert103000km�0abbr=on. The capital and largest city is Reykjav�k, with the surrounding area being home to some two-thirds of the national population. Iceland is volcanically (volcanic activity) and geologically active (geothermal (geology)). The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers (river) flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.

According to Landn�mab�k, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the Norwegian (Norway) chieftain Ing�lfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian (Norwegian people) settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, people of Norse (Norsemen) and Gaelic (Gaels) origin settled in Iceland, from 1262 to 1918 it was part of the Norwegian (Norway), and later the Danish (Denmark) monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population (Icelanders) relied largely on fisheries and agriculture. In 1994, the nation became party to an agreement that established the European Economic Area, thus allowing it to diversify from fishing to economic and financial services.

Iceland has a free market economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, while maintaining a Nordic welfare system (Nordic model) providing universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. In recent years, Iceland has been one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. In 2007, it was ranked as the most developed country (List of countries by Human Development Index) in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index (Human Development Index), and the fourth most productive country per capita. In 2008, the nations banking system systematically failed (2008-2009 Icelandic financial crisis), causing significant economic contraction and political unrest (2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests) that led to early parliamentary elections (Icelandic parliamentary election, 2009) making J�hanna Sigur�ard�ttir the countrys Prime Minister (Prime Minister of Iceland).

Iceland is a developed and technologically advanced society. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Norse (Norsemen) heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse (Norsemen) (particularly from Western Norway) and Gaelic (Gaels) settlers. Icelandic (Icelandic language), a North Germanic language (North Germanic languages), is closely related to Faroese (Faroese language) and some West Norwegian dialects (Norwegian dialects). The countrys cultural heritage includes traditional cuisine (Cuisine of Iceland), poetry (Icelandic poetry) and the mediaeval Icelanders sagas (Sagas of Icelanders).