POPULATION 290,570
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF ICELAND 86.6 percent
OTHER EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN 4.3 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 1.8 percent
OTHER PROTESTANT (PENTECOSTAL, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST, OTHER) 1.3 percent
MORMON 0.2 percent
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS 0.2 percent
ORTHODOX (RUSSIAN AND SERBIAN) 0.1 percent
OTHER (BUDDHIST, MUSLIM, BAHAI, ASA) 0.6 percent
NOT REGISTERED 4.9 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Republic of Iceland is a highly developed Scandinavian country in the Atlantic Ocean on the northern outskirts of Europe. Fjords, mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, and deserts characterize the island, leaving most of the inhabitable areas near the coast. Although the economy depends largely on the fishing industry, most Icelanders are employed in business, education, technology, and other professional occupations. Only 6 percent live in rural areas, while 62.3 percent live in the region surrounding the capital, Reykjavík.

The first settlers arrived in Iceland in the ninth century C.E.. The majority were from Scandinavia (primarily Norway), while others came from Britain and Ireland. The Vikings brought...