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<By: Halldór Árnason et al.> 5.2.1 Geography, climate, vegetation Iceland is the second largest island in Europe, after Great Britain. It's the westernmost country in Europe, located far in the North Atlantic, atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which is an area of active volcanism. The island was indeed formed by numerous volcanos, many of which are still active, sometimes creating new islands out of the sea. Vegetation covers less than one-fifth of Icelands area and only about 1.1% is cultivated. Trees, mostly birch, grow in some places, along with some willows. The rest of the country is barren mountains, deserts (lava beds cover some 11% of Iceland) and glaciers (12%). Vatnajökull (Lakes' Glacier) in the southeast is the largest Ice field in Europe and Ódáđahraun (Lava of ill deeds) north of Vatnajökull is the largest lava bed on earth. Rivers and waterfalls are plenty, and provide hydroelectric power. Over 90% of homes are heated by hot springs, which also keeps greenhouses warm, where the famous Icelandic bananas are grown. 5.2.2 Economy Fishing produces Iceland's main exports, although it employs only ca. 12% of the work force. The country has no railroads, but a network of highways and secondary roads provides access to all inhabited parts of Iceland. Air transportation also plays an important role, both locally and internationally, through the main airports at Reykjavík and at Keflavík, where also a U.S naval base is located (Iceland has no military force of its own). 5.2.3 Government Iceland is a constitutional republic governed by a general assembly, the Althing, which is sometimes called the oldest democratic institution in existense. The president is elected every four years by universal suffrage for all persons over 18 years of age. Icelanders seem to like their presidents, because a president running for reelection has in nine times out of ten gone unopposed, and the tenth time won by a landslide. Real executive power is held by the prime minister and the cabinet. Fore more information, see the URL <http://www.althingi.is/~wwwadm/upplens.html>. 5.2.4 Population and language Iceland's population is a homogeneous mixture of Scandinavian and Celtic origin. Unlike the other Nordic countries there are no dialects to speak of. The language spoken in Iceland has changed very little since the island was settled, some 11 centuries ago. Icelandic and Faroese are the only Scandinavian languages to have kept the complicated inflection system of the Old Norse spoken during the viking age.