Iceland is a constitutional republic with a multi-party system. The head of state is the President. Executive power is exercised by the Government. Iceland is arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy, with the Parliament, the Althingi, established in 930. Legislative power is vested in both the Parliament and the President. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Iceland applied to join the EU on 16 July 2009 and formal negotiations began on 27 July 2010