WorldFactbook.ioFree API →

World Factbook

Iceland

Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)

Military - note

Iceland was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949; Iceland is the only NATO member that has no standing military force; defense of Iceland is a NATO commitment, and NATO maintains an air policing presence in Icelandic airspace; Iceland participates in international peacekeeping missions with the civilian-manned Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) Iceland also cooperates with the militaries of other regional countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) and the Joint Expeditionary Force (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK); in 1951, Iceland and the US concluded an agreement to make arrangements regarding the defense of Iceland and for the use of facilities in Iceland to that end (2025)

Military and security forces

no regular military forces; the Icelandic National Police, the regional police forces, and the Icelandic Coast Guard fall under the purview of the Ministry of Justice (2025)

note: the Icelandic Coast Guard is responsible for operational defense tasks in Iceland including but not limited to operation of Keflavik Air Base, special security zones, and the Icelandic air defense system; it also coordinates with NATO in such areas as air surveillance and military defense exercises