Majority of women in Iceland’s new parliament

In a first in Europe, women hold more than half of the seats in Iceland’s new parliament, final election results showed.

Of the 63 seats in the Althing, 33 were won by women, or 52%, according to projections based on the final results.

No other European country has had more than 50% women lawmakers, with Sweden coming closest at 47%, according to data compiled by the World Bank.

Five other countries in the world currently have parliaments where women hold at least half the seats, according to the Inter-parliamentary Union: Rwanda (61%), Cuba (53%), Nicaragua (51%) and Mexico and the United Arab Emirates (50%).

Unlike some other countries, Iceland does not have legal quotas on female representation in parliament, though some parties do require a minimum number of candidates be women.

Iceland has long been a pioneer in gender equality and women’s rights, and has topped the World Economic Forum’s ranking of most egalitarian countries for the past 12 years.

It offers the same parental leave to both men and women, and its first law on equal pay for men and women dates back to 1961.