page_title: Iceland
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Iceland / Demographics / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Staðarbakkakirkja in Miðfjörður Deutsch: Die Kirche von Staðarbakki in Miðfjörður Íslenska: Staðarbakkakirkja í Miðfirði
context_page_description: Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic, with a population of 364,134 and an area of 103,000 km², making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers 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. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a polar climate.
  According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls of Gaelic origin.
context_section_description: Icelanders have freedom of religion guaranteed under the Constitution, although the Church of Iceland, a Lutheran body, is the state church:
  The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the State Church in Iceland and, as such, it shall be supported and protected by the State.
  — Article 62, Section IV of Constitution of Iceland
  The Registers Iceland keeps account of the religious affiliation of every Icelandic citizen. In 2017, Icelanders were divided into religious groups as follows:
  67.22% members of the Church of Iceland;
  11.56% members of other Christian denomination;
  11.29% other religions and not specified;
  6.69% unaffiliated;
  1.19% members of Germanic Heathen groups (99% of them belonging to Ásatrúarfélagið);
  0.67% members of the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association;
  0.55% members of Zuist groups.
  Iceland is a very secular country; as with other Nordic nations, church attendance is relatively low. The above statistics represent administrative membership of religious organisations, which does not necessarily reflect the belief demographics of the population. According to a study published in 2001, 23% of the inhabitants were either atheist or agnostic. A Gallup poll conducted in 2012 found that 57% of Icelanders considered themselves "religious", 31% considered themselves "non-religious", while 10% defined themselves as "convinced atheists", placing Iceland among the ten countries with the highest proportions of atheists in the world. Icelanders registered in the state church, the Church of Iceland, is declining at a rate of more than 1% per year.
caption: A church in the northwest of Iceland
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