Breiðablik are the defending champions, having won their first league championship.
Haukar and Selfoss were relegated from 2010 Úrvalsdeild after finishing the season in the bottom two places of the league table.
2010 1. deild karla champions Víkingur R. and runners-up Þór Akureyri secured direct promotion to the Úrvalsdeild.Víkingur returned to the Úrvalsdeild after a three-year absence while Þór return to the top league after an eight-year absence.
Each team play every opponent once home and away for a total of 22 matches.
Source ksi.net Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Icelandic)