page_title: Iceland
section_title: Foreign relations
hierarchical_section_title: Iceland / Politics / Foreign relations
caption_attribution_description: English: President Barack Obama and Nordic leaders wait in the State Dining Room prior to the arrival ceremony. From left: Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Denmark), Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (Iceland), Sauli Niinistö (Finland), Stefan Löfven (Sweden), Barack Obama (USA) and Erna Solberg (Norway).(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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: Iceland, which is a member of the UN, NATO, EFTA, Council of Europe and OECD, maintains diplomatic and commercial relations with practically all nations, but its ties with the Nordic countries, Germany, the United States, Canada and the other NATO nations are particularly close. Historically, due to cultural, economic and linguistic similarities, Iceland is a Nordic country, and it participates in intergovernmental cooperation through the Nordic Council.
  Iceland is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), which allows the country access to the single market of the European Union (EU). It was not a member of the EU, but in July 2009 the Icelandic parliament, the Althing, voted in favour of application for EU membership and officially applied on 17 July 2009. However, in 2013, opinion polls showed that many Icelanders were now against joining the EU; following 2013 elections the two parties that formed the island's new government—the centrist Progressive Party and the right-wing Independence Party—announced they would hold a referendum on EU membership.
caption: Nordic prime ministers and the president of Finland visiting the White House in 2016, with Iceland's Sigurður second from the left.
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