Foundation: 930–1262 in Þingvellir The Althing claims to be the longest-running parliament in the world. His responsibilities included reciting aloud the laws in effect at the time. It was his duty to proclaim the procedural law of the Althing to those attending the assembly each year. The
Gulathing Law was adopted in 930 at the first Althing, introduced by , who had spent three years in Norway studying their laws. The Icelandic laws conferred a privileged status on the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. According to , the Althing declared Christianity as the official religion in 1000. The outbreak of warfare in Denmark and Norway prompted , a pagan and chieftain of the Althing, to propose "one law and one religion" to rule over the whole of Iceland, making
baptism and conversion to Christianity required by law. Six elected members and the six appointed ones sat in the
upper chamber, which meant that the latter could prevent legislation from being passed by acting as a bloc. Twenty-four elected
representatives sat in the
lower chamber. From 1874 until 1915 ad hoc committees were appointed. After 1915 seven standing committees were elected by each of the chambers. Regular sessions of the Althing convened every other year. A supplementary session was first held in 1886, and these became more frequent in the 20th century. The Althing met from 1881 in the newly built Parliament House. The
Governor-General (
landshöfðingi) was the highest representative of the government in Iceland and was responsible to the Advisor for Iceland (
Íslandsráðgjafi) in
Copenhagen.
Home rule A
constitutional amendment, confirmed on 3 October 1903, granted the Icelanders
home rule and
parliamentary government.
Hannes Hafstein was appointed as the Icelandic minister on 1 February 1904 who was answerable to parliament. The minister had to have the support of the majority of members of the Althing; in the case of a vote of
no confidence, he would have to step down. Under the constitutional amendment of 1903, the number of members was increased by four, to a total of forty. Elections to the Althing had traditionally been public – voters declared aloud which of the candidates they supported. In 1908, the secret
ballot was adopted, with ballot papers on which the names of the candidates were printed. A single election day for the entire country was at the same time made mandatory. When the Constitution was amended in 1915, the royally nominated members of the Althing were replaced by six national representatives elected by proportional representation for the entire country.
Personal union The
Act of Union (which took effect on 1 December 1918) made Iceland a
state in
personal union with the
Kingdom of Denmark. It was set to expire after 25 years, when either state could choose to leave the union. The Althing was granted unrestricted legislative power. In 1920, the number of members of the Althing was increased to 42. Since 1945, the Althing has customarily assembled in the autumn. With the
Constitutional Act of 1934, the number of members was increased by seven and the system of national representatives abolished in favour of one providing for eleven seats used to equalize discrepancies between the parties'
popular vote and the number of seats they received in the Althing, raising the number of members of the Althing to 49. In 1934, the voting age was also lowered to 21. Further changes in 1942 provided for an additional three members and introduced proportional representation in the double-member constituencies. The constituencies were then 28 in number: 21 single-member constituencies; six double-member constituencies; and Reykjavík, which elected eight members. With the additional eleven equalization seats, the total number of members was thus 52.
Republic The union with Iceland was effectively made inoperable when the Kingdom of
Denmark was occupied by Germany on 9 April 1940. On the following day, the Althing passed two
resolutions, investing the Icelandic cabinet with the power of
Head of State and declaring that Iceland would accept full responsibility for both
foreign policy and coastal surveillance. A year later, the Althing adopted a law creating the position of Regent to represent the Crown. This position continued until the Act of Union was repealed, and the Republic of Iceland established, at a session of the Althing held at
Þingvellir on 17 June 1944. In 1959, the system of electoral districts was changed completely. The country was divided into eight constituencies with proportional representation in each, in addition to the previous eleven equalization seats. The total number of members elected was 60. In 1968, the Althing approved the lowering of the
voting age to 20 years. A further amendment to the Constitution in 1984 increased the number of members to 63 and reduced the voting age to 18 years. Further major changes were introduced in the Althing in May 1991: the two chambers, by that point having identical election methods and identical membership, were merged into a single chamber, thus introducing
unicameralism. By a constitutional amendment of June 1999, implemented in May 2003, the constituency system was again changed. The number of constituencies was cut from eight to six; constituency boundaries were to be fixed by law. There are currently twelve standing committees.
Recent and future elections A full term of parliament is four years but a
snap election may be called earlier. •
2013 Icelandic parliamentary election •
2016 Icelandic parliamentary election •
2017 Icelandic parliamentary election •
2021 Icelandic parliamentary election •
2024 Icelandic parliamentary election ==5 percent threshold==