Iceland has the smallest economy in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with a gross domestic product of just €13bn in 2006. But in recent years it has become the subject of close scrutiny by international investors as they watched the country's dramatic transformation from a fish-based oceanic backwater to a diversified and booming North Atlantic tiger economy.

In the process, Iceland has seen gross domestic product per capita rise to about $40,000 (€25,650, £20,000) - sixth-highest in the OECD.