This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in 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...

. It is limited to liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 and centrist parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Introduction

Liberalism was a major force in Iceland since 1897, but merged into conservatism. Since 1916 an agrarian current developed, with choose a liberal centrist profile in the 1930s. So, the Progressive Party

Progressive Party (Iceland)

The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...

 (Framsóknarflokkurinn, member LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

) is an agrarian liberal centrist party. The newly found Liberal Party (Frjálslyndi Flokkurinn) seems to be an agrarian liberal party with some conservative and nationalist lines of thought.

From Progressive Party to Liberal Party

• 1897: Pro-independence forces founded the Progressive Party (Framfaraflokkurinn), renamed in 1902 into Framsóknarflokkurinn, with the same meaning in English, and in 1905 Democratic Party (Þjóðræðisflokkur)
• 1908: The party merged with the Country Protection Party (Landvarnarflokkur) into the Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn)
• 1923: Conservative factions joined the Citizens' Party (Borgaraflokkurinn)
• 1926: A centrist agrarian faction joined the ⇒ Progressive Party
  Progressive Party (Iceland)
  The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...
  
  , the rest forms the Liberal Party (Frjálslyndi Flokkurinn)
• 1929: The Liberal Party merged into the Independence Party
  Independence Party (Iceland)
  The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....
  
   (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn)

From Farmers Party to Progressive Party

• 1916: The agrarian parties Farmers Party (Bændaflokkurinn) and Independent Farmers (Óháðir Bændur) merged into the present-day Progressive Party
  Progressive Party (Iceland)
  The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as...
  
  (Framsóknarflokkurinn), an agrarian liberal centrist party
• 1933: An agrarian faction seceded and formed the Farmers Party (Bændaflokkurinn)

Liberal Party (1998)

• 1998: A new liberal party, the Liberal Party (Frjálslyndi Flokkurinn), seceded from the conservative Independence Party
  Independence Party (Iceland)
  The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....
  
   (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn). in General elections in 1999 it gained 2 seats in parliament and 4 seats in the elections 2003. It has one representative in Reykjavík city council. The seats in the parliament were gained by campaigning against the current Fisheries management system. The seat in Reykjavík city council was gaind with environmental friendly campaign.

See also

• History of Iceland
  History of Iceland
  -Early history:In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge...
  
  
• Politics of Iceland
  Politics of Iceland
  Politics of Iceland takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Iceland is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. It is arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy. Executive power is exercised by the...
  
  
• List of political parties in Iceland