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Íþrótta- og
Ólympíusamband Íslands
Created: 1921 - Recognised: 1935
www.olympic.is |
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Population: |
313,000 |
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Area: |
103,000 sq.km. |
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Latest update:
08/06/2009 18:17 +0300
 Iceland:
ANDORRA
| CYPRUS
| ICELAND
|
LIECHTENSTEIN |
LUXEMBOURG
| MONACO
| MALTA
| SAN MARINO
The Republic of Iceland is
an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, 320 km east of
Greenland and 1050 km west of Norway. It is about 305 km
from north to south and about 485 km from east to west, with
an area of 102,950 km2. It lies just below the
Arctic Circle.
A large plateau covers most
of the island, dropping sharply to grassy lowlands along the
coast.
The plateau is a rugged,
barren area about 750 m above sea level. Hvannadalshnúkur
(2119 m) is the highest summit. The entire area is highly
volcanic, with a number of active volcanoes, hot springs and
geysers. On the other hand, glaciers cover one-eighth of the
land, with a thickness of over 1 km in places. The largest
of these, Vatnajokull, covers 8 456 km2. Glaciers
have cut deep fjords in the coast. There are numerous small
lakes and small but swift-flowing rivers.
Despite it high latitude,
Iceland has a relatively mild climate due to the northern
extension of the Gulf Stream. Summers are mild and the
winters cool. The mean annual temperature at Reykjavik is
about 5° C, with a range from -1° C in January to 11° C in
July. The city gets about 760 mm of precipitation a year,
but some of Iceland's interior mountains receive up to 4,570
mm a year. High winds are prevalent during the winter
season.
Iceland has won three Olympic medals
since its first participation in 1908. Vilhjalmur Einarsson
finished second in the men's triple jump in 1956 and judoka
Bjarni Fridriksson won a bronze in the 86-95kg. class in
1984. In Sydney 2000, Vala Flosadottir became the first
Icelandic woman to win an Olympic medal, when she took
bronze in the pole vault.
Iceland has hosted the Games
of the Small States of Europe once in the past, in 1997. The Nordic country
has topped the medals rankings in eight of the 12 previous
editions and leads the overall standings in the number gold
medals won (although trailing Cyprus in the grand total).
Andorra |
Cyprus |
Iceland |
Liechtenstein |
Luxembourg |
Monaco |
Malta |
San Marino |
