Iceland

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Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland; IPA: ) is a volcanic island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands.

Administrative Divisions

Iceland is divided into regions, constituencies, counties, and municipalities.

Regions

There are eight regions which are primarily used for statistical purposes; the district court jurisdictions also use an older version of this division.

Constituencies

Until 2003, the constituencies for the parliament elections were the same as the regions, but by an amendment to the constitution they were changed to the current six constituencies. The change was made in order to balance the weight of different districts of the country since a vote cast in the sparsely populated areas around the country would count much more than a vote cast in the Reykjavík city area. The imbalance between districts has been reduced by the new system, but still exists.

Counties

Iceland's 23 counties are for the most part historical divisions. Currently, Iceland is split up among 26 magistrates that represent government in various capacities. Among their duties are running the local police (except in Reykjavík, where there is a special office of police commissioner), tax collection, administering bankruptcy declarations, and performing civil marriages.

Municipalities

There are 79 municipalities in Iceland which govern most local matters like schools, transportation and zoning.

Cities & towns

Geography

Location and Topography

Iceland is located in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle, which passes through the small island of Grímsey off Iceland's northern coast, but not through mainland Iceland. Unlike neighbouring Greenland, Iceland is considered to be a part of Europe, not of North America, though geologically, the island belongs to both continents. Due to cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland in many contexts is also included in Scandinavia. It is the world's 18th largest island, and Europe's 2nd largest island following Great Britain.

Read more at Wikipedia.org