President: Olafur Ragnar Grimsson Prime minister: Johanna Sigurdardottir
Population
29,890,686
313,183
Life Expectancy
66.510 years
81.000 years
Capital City
Kathmandu
Reykjavik
Largest city
Kathmandu (population: 1,442,270)
Reykjavik (population: 113,906)
Human Development Index
0.53
NA
GDP per capita
$1,300 US
$38,500 US
Literacy Rate
48.6%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.7
8.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
33.2%
33.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson ($1.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
46.000%
7.400%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
federal democratic republic
constitutional republic
Independence date
1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan SHAH)
1 December 1918 (became a sovereign state under the Danish Crown); 17 June 1944 (from Denmark)
Religions
Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) note: only official Hindu state in the world
Lutheran Church of Iceland 82.1%, Roman Catholic Church 2.4%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.3%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.6%, other Christian 2.8%, other religions 0.9%, unaffiliated 2.6%, other or unspecified 5.5% (2006 est.)
Languages
Nepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census) note: many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.)
Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken
