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Althingi
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly fields"), situated approximately east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík. Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at until 1800, when it was discontinued. It was restored in 1844 by royal decree and moved to Reykjavík. The restored unicameral legislature first came together in 1845 and after 1874 operated in two chambers with an additional third chamber taking on a greater role as the decades passed until 1991 when Althing became once again unicameral. The present parliament building, the , was built in 1881, made of hewn Icelandic stone. The unicameral parliament has 63 members, and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation. The current ...
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Constitution Of Iceland
The Constitution of Iceland ( Icelandic: ''Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands'' "Constitution of the republic of Iceland") is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the leadership arrangement of the country is determined and the human rights of its citizens are preserved. The current constitution was first instituted on 17 June 1944 when Iceland became a republic; since then, it has been amended seven times. History In the 19th century, the Icelandic independence movement from Denmark was gaining momentum, while nationalism and demands for increased civil rights intensified in mainland Europe. In June 1849, the king of Denmark was forced to meet the demands of the liberals and the nationalists, and agree to a constitution for Denmark and thus also with Iceland. This constitution repealed the absolute monarchy and established a constitutional monarchy in which power over most important issues was handed over to a parliament ...
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Alþingishúsið
Alþingishúsið (, ''The Parliament House'') is a classical 19th century structure which stands by Austurvöllur in central Reykjavík, Iceland. It houses '' Alþingi'', the Icelandic parliament. The building was designed by Danish architect Ferdinand Meldahl and built using hewn dolerite from 1880 to 1881. The reliefs on the tympanums of the four outermost windows on the first floor represent the four Landvættir of Iceland: a dragon, a vulture, a giant and a bull, momentarily appeased by Ingólfur Arnarson when he first landed in Iceland. Alþingishúsið has also housed the Icelandic National Library and Antiquaries Collection, and later the Icelandic National Gallery. The University of Iceland used the first floor of the house from 1911 to 1940, and the President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and ...
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2021 Icelandic Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland on 25 September 2021 to elect the members of the Althing. Following the elections, the three parties in the ruling coalition government – the Independence Party, Progressive Party and Left-Green Movement – agreed to continue in office, with Katrín Jakobsdóttir of the Left-Green Movement remaining Prime Minister despite her party being the smallest of the three. Background 2017 parliamentary election The 2017 parliamentary election was called after the collapse of the coalition government between the Independence Party, Reform Party, and Bright Future after the withdrawal of the latter over a breach of trust involving a request to grant a convicted child sex offender "restored honor" from the father of Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson. In the 2017 election, the Independence Party lost 5 seats and was reduced to 16, while the Reform Party lost 3 to win 4, and Bright Future was eliminated from the Althing entirely. The Left-Gr ...
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Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its surrounding areas) is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. 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, and most of its islands have a polar climate. According to the ancient manuscript , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first p ...
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Constituencies Of Iceland
Iceland is divided into 6 constituencies for the purpose of selecting representatives to parliament.National Electoral Commission of Iceland 2013, p. 4 History The current division was established by a 1999 constitution amendment and was an attempt to balance the weight of different districts of the country whereby voters in the rural districts have greater representation per head than voters in Reykjavík city and its suburbs. The new division comprises three countryside constituencies (NW, NE and S) and three city constituencies (RN, RS and SW).National Electoral Commission of Iceland 2013, p. 5 The imbalance of votes between city and country still exists and a provision in the election law states that if the number of votes per seat in parliament in one constituency goes below half of what it is in any other constituency, one seat shall be transferred between them. This has occurred twice, in the elections in 2007 and 2013. On both occasions, a seat was transferred from the ...
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Independence Party (Iceland)
The Independence Party ( is, Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. It is currently the largest party in the Althing, Alþingi, with 17 seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1970), Bjarni Benediktsson and the vice chairman of the party is Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir. It was formed in 1929 through a merger of the Conservative Party (Iceland), Conservative Party and the Liberal Party (Iceland, historical), Liberal Party. This united the two parties advocating the dissolution of the Union of Denmark and Iceland; dissolution was achieved in 1944, during the German occupation of Denmark. Since its formation in 1929, the party has won the largest share of the vote in every election except the 2009 Icelandic parliamentary election, 2009 election, when it fell behind the Social Democratic Alliance. Every Independence Party leader has also at some point held ...
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Left-Green Movement
The Left-Green Movement ( is, Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name ''Vinstri græn'' (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. The Left-Green Movement is the third largest party in the Althing, with 8 members of 63 in total after the 2021 Icelandic parliamentary election. It is also the leading party in a three-party coalition government that has governed since the 2017 Icelandic parliamentary election. The party chair is Katrín Jakobsdóttir, a member of Parliament and the 28th prime minister of Iceland since 30 November 2017. The vice chairperson is Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson while the secretary-general of the party is Björg Eva Erlendsdóttir. The Left-Green Movement is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance. History The party was founded in 1999 by members of Althing who did not approve of the merger of left-wing political parties in Iceland which resulted in ...
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Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a population of around 131,136 (and 233,034 in the Capital Region), it is the centre of Iceland's cultural, economic, and governmental activity, and is a popular tourist destination. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which, according to Landnámabók, was established by Ingólfr Arnarson in 874 CE. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was officially founded in 1786 as a trading town and grew steadily over the following decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities. It is among the cleanest, greenest, and safest cities in the world. History According to lege ...
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Tynwald
Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council. When the two chambers sit together, they become "Tynwald Court". The chambers sit jointly, on Tynwald Day at St John's for largely ceremonial purposes, and usually once a month in the Legislative Buildings in Douglas. Otherwise, the two chambers sit separately, with the House of Keys originating most legislation, and the Legislative Council acting as a revising chamber. Etymology The name Tynwald, like the Icelandic and Norwegian '' Tingvoll'', is derived from the Old Norse word meaning the meeting place of the assembly, the field (vǫllr→wald, cf. the Old English cognate weald) of the ''thing''. Tynwald Day Tynwald meets annually on Tynwald Day (usually on 5 July) at an ope ...
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Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. The term is similar to the idea of a senate, synod or congress and is commonly used in countries that are current or former monarchies. Some contexts restrict the use of the word ''parliament'' to parliamentary systems, although it is also used to describe the legislature in some presidential systems (e.g., the Parliament of Ghana), even where it is not in the Legal name, official name. Historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies, an example being the French medieval and early modern parlements. Etymology The English term is derived from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and dates to the 14th century, coming from the 11th century Old ...
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Bicameralism
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. , about 40% of world's national legislatures are bicameral, and about 60% are unicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected by different methods, which vary from Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. Enactment of a bill, Enactment of primary legislation often requires a concurrent majority—the approval of a majority of members in each of the chambers of the legislature. When this is the case, the legislature may be called an example of perfect bicameralism. However, in many parliamentary and semi-presidential systems, the house to which the executive is Responsible government, responsi ...
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Þingvellir
Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland from the year 930 until the last session held at in 1798. Since 1881, the parliament has been located within Alþingishúsið in Reykjavík. is now a national park in the municipality of in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Iceland's capital, . is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies , the largest natural lake in Iceland. National Park ( ) was founded in 1930, marking the 1000th anniversary of the Althing. The park was later expanded to protect the dive ...
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