Icelandic Language
Íslenska
Linguistic Classification Icelandic is a North Germanic language, descended from Old Norse, and is closely related to Faroese and western Norwegian dialects.
Number of Speakers Approximately 314,000 native speakers reside in Iceland, with additional Icelandic-speaking communities in Denmark (around 8,000), the United States (approximately 5,000), and Canada (over 1,400).
Official Status Icelandic is the national and official language of Iceland, as established by Act No 61/2011.
Alphabet The Icelandic alphabet consists of 32 letters, including unique characters such as 'ð' (eð) and 'þ' (thorn), the latter of which is retained from the runic alphabet.