President of Iceland
| President of Iceland | |
|---|---|
| Forseti Íslands (Icelandic) | |
| Office of the President | |
| Style |
|
| Member of | State Council of Iceland |
| Residence | Bessastaðir |
| Seat | Garðabær, Iceland |
| Appointer | Popular vote (plurality voting) |
| Term length | Four years, no term limits |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Iceland (1944) |
| Precursor | King of Iceland |
| Formation | 17 June 1944 |
| First holder | Sveinn Björnsson |
| Succession | Line of succession |
| Salary | €289,000 annually |
| Website | forseti forseti |
| Iceland portal |
The president of Iceland (Icelandic: Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 presidential election.
The president is not involved in the running of the country, but serves as the head of the state and formally appoints new governments and their ministers.
The president is elected by popular vote to a four-year term, and can be reelected any number of times. Historically, while first-term elections have often been hard-fought, an incumbent president who decides to seek another term has usually run unopposed, or they have won re-election with an overwhelming majority of the vote when opposed. The 2012 election was a notable exception to this, where incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson won with only 52.78% of the vote.
Iceland was the first country to have an elected female head of state when Vigdís Finnbogadóttir assumed Iceland's presidency on 1 August 1980.
The presidential residence is situated in Bessastaðir in Garðabær, near the capital city Reykjavík.