The Icelandic Coast Guard is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, national defense, and law enforcement. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland Air Defence System which conducts ground-based surveillance of Iceland's air space and operate the Keflavik airbase. It is also responsible for hydrographic surveying and nautical charting.
Iceland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 36 times since its debut in 1986, missing only two contests since then, in 1998 and 2002, when prevented from competing due to finishing outside qualification places the preceding years. The country's best result is second place, which it achieved with "All Out of Luck" by Selma in 1999 and "Is It True?" by Yohanna in 2009. The Icelandic participant broadcaster in the contest is Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), which select its entrant with the national competition Söngvakeppnin.
Pétur Karl Guðmundsson is an Icelandic former professional basketball player and coach. Standing 2.18 m (7'2"), weighing 118 kg (260 lb) and playing the center position, Pétur was the first Icelander and one of the first European players ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Often described as the greatest Icelandic basketball player of all time, he was named the Icelandic Basketball Player of the 20th century by the Icelandic Basketball Association in 2001 and in 2015, he was inducted in to the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland Hall of Fame. Pétur was also a member of the Icelandic national basketball team from 1978 to 1992 but missed several years of competition due to FIBA rules banning professional players from playing for national teams.
The 1986 Hvalur sinkings occurred in Iceland's Reykjavík harbour in November 1986, when anti-whaling activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society sank the unoccupied whaling vessels, Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7, and sabotaged a whale processing station in Hvalfjörður. The ships were two of the nation's fleet of four and were eventually raised, but have not gone on a whale hunt since and were dragged onto dry land. Repairs have still not yet been made to the ships some 36 years later. The factory was the country's only processing facility.
Hvalur 9 RE-399 is an Icelandic whaling ship built in 1952 in Norway. It has been a part of the Icelandic whaling fleet operated and owned by the company Hvalur hf. since 1966.
Ólafur Þór Gunnarsson is an Icelandic former footballer. He played the majority of his career in Iceland and capped for the Icelandic national team against Brazil in 2002. He played football for Flagler College in the United States, where he was a three-time NAIA All-American, All-Region XIV and All-Florida Sun Conference selection. In 2016, he was inducted into the schools hall of fame.
Baldur Þórhallsson is an Icelandic academic. He is currently Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair in European Studies at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland. He was a deputy member of Alþingi in 2011 and 2012, representing the Social Democratic Alliance. In March 2024, he announced his candidacy for the President of Iceland as an independent.
Ívar DeCarsta Unsont Webster is an American and Icelandic former professional basketball player and coach. Following a college career at Miami Dade and Indiana State, he went on to play for 20 seasons in Iceland where he won the national championship in 1988. In 1984, he became the first naturalized citizen to play for Iceland national basketball team.
Kjartan Antonsson is an Icelandic businessman and former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Rán, also known as TF-RÁN, was a Sikorsky S-76A helicopter that was in service with the Icelandic Coast Guard from 1980 to 1983. It was named after Rán, the goddess and a personification of the sea from Norse mythology, and was the second Coast Guard aircraft to bear the name. Its 1983 crash in the sea in Jökulfirðir remains the deadliest accident in the ICG history and nearly caused the shutdown of its helicopter program.
Líf, also known as TF-LÍF, is an Aérospatiale AS-332L1 Super Puma helicopter that served the Icelandic Coast Guard for 25-years. It is named after Líf, the only woman foretold to survive the events of Ragnarök from Norse mythology, and is the first Coast Guard aircraft to bear the name. It is the longest serving helicopter in the history of the ICG and gained national fame when it rescued 39 sailors in three separate incidents during a six-day period in March 1997. In 2024, it was put on display at the Icelandic Aviation Museum.
The 1950 Geysir air crash was a plane crash that occurred on 14 September 1950 when a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, christened Geysir, crashed on the southeastern parts of Bárðarbunga on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland. The crew of six survived the crash but had to wait several days until they were found by rescuers and brought off the glacier. The difficulties that arose during the rescue mission directly led to the creations of specialized air rescue units in Iceland.
ICGV Baldur is a patrol and survey vessel of the Icelandic Coast Guard. The ship was built by Vélsmiðja Seyðisfjarðar in Iceland in 1991 and entered service the same year. Over its three decade career it has been used for hydrographic surveying, patrol, law enforcement, exercises and various other projects along the country's shores. The ship is named after the Norse god Baldur and is the third coast guard vessel to bear the name.
The 1951 Flugfélag Íslands DC-3 crash was a plane crash that occurred on 31 January 1951 when a Douglas DC-3 from Flugfélag Íslands, christened Glitfaxi, crashed in Faxaflói in Iceland, killing all 20 people aboard. It remains the second deadliest air crash in Iceland behind the 1947 Héðinsfjörður air crash.
Hvalur 8 RE-388 is an Icelandic whaling ship built in 1948 in Norway. It has been a part of the Icelandic whaling fleet operated and owned by the company Hvalur hf. since 1962.
Hvalur hf. is an Icelandic commercial whaling and holding company. Hvalur hf. was founded in 1947 as a commercial whaling company by Loftur Bjarnason and Vilhjálmur Árnason and later run by their sons, Kristján Loftsson and Árni Vilhjálmsson. In the recent decades, it has become one of the most powerful investment companies in Iceland, having owned large shares in Arion Bank, Marel, Origo hf. and Brim hf. amongst others.
Hvalur 7 RE-377 is an Icelandic whaling ship built in 1945 in England by Smith's Dock Company. It has been a part of the Icelandic whaling fleet operated and owned by the company Hvalur hf. since 1961. It was bought, along with its sister ship Hvalur 6, to replace the aging Hvalur 2 and Hvalur 3 which were built between 1920 and 1930. In 1965, the ship participated in the first Icelandic scientific expedition to tag whales.
Edda Andrésdóttir is an Icelandic journalist, news anchor and writer.
Ingvi Hrafn Jónsson is an Icelandic news reporter and television host. He is known for his career as the news director for RÚV and Stöð 2 and later for his TV station ÍNN.
Iceland 