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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