Accession of Iceland To The European Union - Comparison With Other EU Countries

Comparison With Other EU Countries

If Iceland were admitted to the EU, its capital Reykjavík would be both the northernmost and westernmost EU capital. The table below shows the coordinates of Reykjavík in comparison to other EU capitals:

Most northerly EU capitals Most westerly EU capitals
Country City Coordinates Country City Coordinates
Iceland Reykjavík 64°08′N 21°56′W / 64.133°N 21.933°W / 64.133; -21.933 (Reykjavík) Iceland Reykjavík 64°08′N 21°56′W / 64.133°N 21.933°W / 64.133; -21.933 (Reykjavík)
Finland Helsinki 60°10′N 24°56′E / 60.167°N 24.933°E / 60.167; 24.933 (Helsinki) Portugal Lisbon 38°42′N 9°08′W / 38.7°N 9.133°W / 38.7; -9.133 (Lisbon)
Estonia Tallinn 59°26′N 24°44′E / 59.433°N 24.733°E / 59.433; 24.733 (Tallinn) Ireland Dublin 53°20′N 6°15′W / 53.333°N 6.25°W / 53.333; -6.25 (Dublin)
Sweden Stockholm 59°21′N 18°04′E / 59.35°N 18.067°E / 59.35; 18.067 (Stockholm) Spain Madrid 40°23′N 3°43′W / 40.383°N 3.717°W / 40.383; -3.717 (Madrid)

If Iceland were to be admitted to the EU, it would be the smallest member state in terms of population. Since its area (103,000 km2) is close to the average for EU countries (165,048 km2), it would be the least densely populated country in the EU. The table below shows its population and population density in comparison to some of the other member states.

Population figures Population density
EU rank Country Population EU rank Country Population Area (km2) Density
Iceland 319,756 Iceland 319,756 103,001 3.1
27 Malta 416,333 27 Finland 5,350,475 338,145 15.82
26 Luxembourg 502,207 26 Sweden 9,347,899 449,964 20.77
25 Cyprus 801,851 25 Estonia 1,340,274 45,226 29.64
14 Hungary (EU median) 10,013,628 14 Portugal (EU median) 11,317,192 92,391 109
EU Average 18,565,179 EU Average 18,565,179 160,177 115.9
2 France 64,709,480 2 Netherlands 16,576,800 41,526 399.2
1 Germany 81,757,595 1 Malta 416,333 316 1317.5

Iceland’s GDP per capita is among the highest in Europe as is shown in the following tables (First table is from the CIA World Factbook statistics for 2011, and the second table is from the statistic of IMF for 2011):

EU Ranking Country GDP per capita
1 Luxembourg $80,600
2 Netherlands $42,000
3 Austria $41,600
4 Ireland $40,800
5 Sweden $40,700
Iceland $38,100
EU Average $34,100
27 Romania $12,500
EU Ranking Country GDP per capita
1 Luxembourg $80,559
2 Netherlands $42,023
3 Austria $41,556
4 Ireland $40,838
5 Sweden $40,705
6 Germany $38,077
Iceland $38,060
EU Average $31,673
27 Romania $12.493

The Icelandic language would also be one of the smallest official languages of the EU in terms of native speakers (together with Irish and Maltese).

Read more about this topic:  Accession Of Iceland To The European Union

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