FACTBOX: Iceland in crisis

(Reuters) - Iceland took control on Thursday of its biggest bank, Kaupthing, to try to shore up a teetering banking system.

Here are some facts about Iceland:

* THE FINANCIAL CRISIS:

-- Iceland, whose prime minister warned of "national bankruptcy" has now seized control of three of the nation's major banks. Landsbanki, its second largest bank by value, and Glitnir were taken over earlier this week.

-- On Monday the crown dropped as much as 30 percent against the euro and Iceland adopted sweeping powers late on Monday that gave the state the ability to dictate banking operations and allow it to push through mergers or even force a bank to declare bankruptcy. Reykjavik announced the next day that Russia may provide the stricken state with a loan. Negotiations to secure a possible 4 billion euro ($5.45 billion) loan will begin next Tuesday.

-- The small country's financial stature had swelled in recent years as its banks expanded rapidly overseas. Investors took large positions in its high-yielding currency and foreign firms and individuals poured money into local projects.

* THE COUNTRY - SOME DETAILS:

CAPITAL - Reykjavik

POPULATION - 304,000 (2008 estimates)

ETHNICITY - Some 96 percent of Icelanders are descendants of Norwegian, Scottish and Irish immigrants.

RELIGION - 92 percent of Icelanders are Lutheran Protestants. There are small minorities of other Protestants and Roman Catholics.

LANGUAGE - Modern Icelandic is closely related to Old Norse, the language of the original Viking settlers.

ECONOMY - Before World War Two, Iceland was a relatively poor country. After the war, the economy was buoyed by the presence of a U.S. Cold War military base monitoring the Soviet Union which closed in 2006.

-- The economy depends heavily on the fishing industry, which provided 70 percent of export earnings and has employed 6 percent of the work force. It has diversified into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, and promoted software production, biotechnology, and financial services.

GOVERNMENT - Legislative power is vested jointly in the president and the 63-seat unicameral Althingi, elected for a four-year period. The Althingi traces its origins to the assembly established by Viking settlers in A.D. 930, making it the world's oldest parliament.

AREA - 103,100 sq km (39,810 square miles). Four-fifths of the island is uninhabited. Glaciers cover 11 percent of the land and trees are a prized rarity. It lies in the North Atlantic about 800 km (500 miles) north of Scotland.