The Nordic country Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 has 644 Muslims, 404 members of "The Association of Muslims in Iceland" and 274 members of "The Muslim Culter Center of Iceland" (as of 2011). This corresponds to 0.20% of the population of Iceland.

Demographics

The Association of Muslims in Iceland had 352 members in 2006, which had grown to 402 in 2008, but in 2009 only 371.

Most of the nation's Muslims live in or near Reykjavík

Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

, but there is a small number of Kosovar

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

 Muslim refugees in Dalvík

Dalvík

Dalvíkurbyggð is a municipality in the north of Iceland.The population of the municipality is about 2,000- History :The municipality of Dalvíkurbyggð was formed in 1998 by the merger of three districts of outer Eyjafjörður: the town of Dalvík and the rural districts of Svarfaðardalur and Árskógur...

.

Association of Muslims in Iceland

The Association of Muslims in Iceland (Félag múslima á Íslandi) was founded in 1997. It is headed by Salmann Tamimi, a Palestinian immigrant.

Mosques

There are currently no mosques in Iceland.
The community has had its own Muslim Chapel on third floor in a office building in Reykjavík since 2002. The Muslim Chapel offers daily and nightly prayers, which attracts a core group of 30 individuals, with a mix of local Icelanders and Muslims from all over the world. The Chapel also offers weekly Friday prayers for Juma'a. The Muslim Chapel is located inside an office building on third floor in Ármúli 38 in Reykjavík.

In 2000 the Muslim Association applied to build a mosque in Reykjavik. However, the city has not approved the full plans, although they authorized a plot of land measuring 1,500 m^2 in 2001 – less than half of the land requested by the Muslim Association. The approval of additional land was subsequently tied to approval of a Russian Orthodox church, which the city indicates is to be located in an adjacent facility.

Outside interest

The Muslims of Iceland gained the interest of Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...

 who plan a documentary that will deal with Muslims in Iceland and New Zealand. The interest is due to how Ramadan

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

is handled in the higher latitudes where the night can be of unusual length when compared to the majority-Muslim lands.