A painting byJohan Peter Raadsig of Ingólfr commanding his high seat pillars to be erectedReykjavík in the 1860s
According to legend, the first permanentNorse settlement in Iceland was established at Reykjavík byIngólfr Arnarson circa AD 870, as described in theBook of Settlement. Ingólfr is said to have decided the location of his settlement using a traditional Norse method: when land was in sight, he cast hishigh seat pillars overboard and promised to settle where the gods decided to bring them ashore. Two of his slaves then searched the coasts for three years before finding the pillars in the bay which eventually became the site of Reykjavík.[13]
The name is ofOld Norse origin, derived from the rootsreykr ('smoke') andvík ('bay'). The name is said to be inspired by steam rising fromhot springs in the region. The original name wasReykjar-vík,[14] with an "r"suffix for thegenitivesingular ofreykr; the modern versionreykja- uses the genitive plural. The name's meaning is still transparent in modern Icelandic, and in modern Norwegian (røyk +vik). The name originally referred to both the bay on the northern shore of the modern city centre, betweenÖrfirisey [is] andLaugarnes, as well as the estate and farm of Ingólfr Arnarson. This form of the name fell out of use shortly after settlement, and the estate was referred to asVík á Seltjarnarnesi until the name Reykjavík was revived when urban development began centuries later.[14] The name has been translated asBay of Smoke in English-language travel guides.[15]
The site of the modern city centre was farmland until the 18th century. In 1752,King Frederik V of Denmark donated the estate of Reykjavík to theInnréttingar [is] corporation. The leader of this movement wasSkúli Magnússon. In the 1750s, several houses were built to house thewool industry, which was Reykjavík's most important employer for a few decades and the original reason for its existence. Other industries were undertaken by the Innréttingar, such asfisheries,sulphur mining, agriculture, and shipbuilding.[16]
The Danish Crown abolished monopoly trading in 1786 and granted six communities around the country an exclusive trading charter. Reykjavík was one of them and the only one to hold on to the charter permanently. 1786 is thus regarded as the date of the city's founding. Trading rights were limited to subjects of the Danish Crown, and Danish traders continued to dominate trade in Iceland. Over the following decades, their business in Iceland expanded. After 1880,free trade was expanded to all nationalities, and the influence of Icelandic merchants started to grow.
Icelandic nationalist sentiment gained influence in the 19th century, and the idea of Icelandic independence became widespread. Reykjavík, as Iceland's only city, was central to such ideas. Advocates of an independent Iceland realized that a strong Reykjavík was fundamental to that objective. All the important events in the history of the independence struggle were important to Reykjavík as well. In 1845 theAlþingi, the general assembly formed in 930 AD, was re-established in Reykjavík; it had been suspended a few decades earlier when it was located atÞingvellir. At the time it functioned only as an advisory assembly, advising the king about Icelandic affairs. The location of Alþingi in Reykjavík effectively established the city as the capital of Iceland.
In 1874, Iceland was given aconstitution; with it, Alþingi gained some limited legislative powers and in essence became the institution that it is today. The next step was to move most of the executive power to Iceland:Home Rule was granted in 1904 when the office ofMinister for Iceland was established in Reykjavík. On 1 December 1918, Iceland became a sovereign country, theKingdom of Iceland, inpersonal union with theCrown of Denmark.
By the 1920s and 1930s, most of the growing Icelandic fishing trawler fleet sailed from Reykjavík;cod production was its main industry, but theGreat Depression hit Reykjavík hard withunemployment, and labour union struggles sometimes became violent.
On the morning of 10 May 1940, following the German occupation ofDenmark andNorway on 9 April 1940, four British warships approached Reykjavík and anchored in the harbour. In a few hours, theAlliedoccupation of Reykjavík was complete. There was no armed resistance, and taxi and truck drivers even assisted the invasion force, which initially had no motor vehicles. The Icelandic government had received many requests from the British government to consent to the occupation, but it always declined on the basis of itspolicy of neutrality. For the remaining years ofWorld War II, British and later American soldiers occupied camps in Reykjavík, and the number of foreign soldiers in Reykjavík became about the same as the local population of the city.[17]The Royal Regiment of Canada formed part of the garrison in Iceland during the early part of the war.
The economic effects of the occupation were positive for Reykjavík: the unemployment of the Depression years vanished, and construction work began. The British builtReykjavík Airport, which remains in service today, mostly for short-haul flights (to domestic destinations and Greenland). The Americans, meanwhile, builtKeflavík Airport, situated 50 km (31 mi) WSW of Reykjavík, which became Iceland's primary international airport.[18] In 1944, the Republic of Iceland was founded and apresident, elected by the people, replaced the king; the office of the president was placed in Reykjavík.
In thepost-war years, the growth of Reykjavík accelerated. An exodus from the rural countryside began, largely because improved technology in agriculture reduced the need for manpower, and because of a population boom resulting from better living conditions in the country. A once-primitive village was rapidly transformed into a modern city. Private cars became common, and modern apartment complexes rose in the expanding suburbs.
Reykjavik view during sunriseReykjavík seen from aboveEsja, the mountain range to the north of Reykjavík
Reykjavík is located in the southwest ofIceland. The Reykjavík areacoastline is characterized bypeninsulas, coves, straits, and islands.
During theIce Age (up to 10,000 years ago) a large glacier covered parts of the city area, reaching as far out asÁlftanes. Other parts of the city area were covered by sea water. In the warm periods and at the end of the Ice Age, some hills like Öskjuhlíð were islands. The former sea level is indicated by sediments (with clams) reaching (at Öskjuhlíð, for example) as far as 43 m (141 ft) above the current sea level. The hills of Öskjuhlíð and Skólavörðuholt appear to be the remains of formershield volcanoes which were active during the warm periods of the Ice Age. After the Ice Age, the land rose as the heavy load of the glaciers fell away, and began to look as it does today.
The capital city area continued to be shaped byearthquakes andvolcanic eruptions, such as the one 4,500 years ago in the mountain rangeBláfjöll, when the lava coming down the Elliðaá valley reached the sea at the bay of Elliðavogur.
The largest river to run through Reykjavík is theElliðaá River, which is non-navigable. It offerssalmon fishing within the city limits.[19] MountEsja, at 914 m (2,999 ft), is the highest mountain in the vicinity of Reykjavík.
The city of Reykjavík is mostly located on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula, but the suburbs reach far out to the south and east. Reykjavík is a spread-out city: most of its urban area consists of low-density suburbs, and houses are usually widely spaced. The outer residential neighbourhoods are also widely spaced from each other; in between them are the main traffic arteries and a lot of empty space. The city's latitude is 64°08' N, making it theworld's northernmost capital of a sovereign state (Nuuk, the capital ofGreenland, is slightly further north at 64°10' (about 4 km) but Greenland is aconstituent country, not an independent state).
Panorama of Reykjavík seen fromPerlan with the mountains Akrafjall (middle) andEsja (right) in the background
Panorama of Reykjavík seen fromPerlan at sunset in summer. As seen in the picture, Reykjavík's climate is mild enough for trees to grow.
At 64° north, Reykjavík is characterized by extremes of day and night length over the course of the year. From 20 May to 24 July, daylight is essentially permanent as the sun never gets more than 5° below the horizon. Day length drops to less than five hours between 2 December and 10 January. The sun climbs just 3° above the horizon during this time. However, day length begins increasing rapidly during January and by month's end there are seven hours of daylight.
Despite its northern latitude, temperatures very rarely drop below −15 °C (5 °F) in the winter. The proximity to theArctic Circle and the strong moderation of theAtlantic Ocean in theIcelandic coast (influence ofNorth Atlantic Current, an extension of theGulf Stream) shape a relatively mild winter and cool summer. The city's coastal location does make it prone to wind, however, andgales are common in winter (influence of theIcelandic Low).[23] Summers are cool, with temperatures fluctuating between 10 and 15 °C (50 and 59 °F), rarely exceeding 20 °C (68 °F). This is a result of exposure to the maritime winds in its exposed west coast location that causes it to be much cooler in summer than similar latitudes in mainlandScandinavia. Contrasting this, winter days are milder than anywhere in far southernSweden and the vast majority ofDenmark. In fact, winter temperatures are comparable to those ofNew York City, which is more than 20 degrees farther south. Reykjavík averages 147 days of rain (more than 1mm) per year.[24] Droughts are uncommon, although they occur in some summers. In the summer of 2007, no rain was measured for one month. July and August are the warmest months of the year on average and January and February the coldest.
Summer tends to be the sunniest season, although May averages the most sunshine of any individual month. Overall, the city receives around 1,300 annual hours of sunshine,[25] which is comparable with other places in northern and north-western Europe such asIreland andScotland, but substantially less than equally northern regions with a more continental climate, including theBothnian Bay basin in Scandinavia. Nonetheless, Reykjavík is one of the cloudiest and coolest capitals of any nation in the world. The highest temperature recorded in Reykjavík was 25.7 °C (78 °F), reported on 30 July 2008,[26] while the lowest-ever recorded temperature was −24.5 °C (−12 °F), recorded on 21 January 1918.[27] The coldest month on record is January 1918, with a mean temperature of −7.2 °C (19 °F). The warmest is July 2019, with a mean temperature of 13.4 °C (56 °F).[28]
TheReykjavík City Council governs the city of Reykjavík[37] and is directly elected by those aged over 18 domiciled in the city. The council has 23 members who are elected using theopen list method for four-year terms.
The council selects members of boards, and each board controls a different field under the city council's authority. The most important board is the City Board that wields the executive rights along with the City Mayor. The City Mayor is the senior public official and also the director of city operations. Other public officials control city institutions under the mayor's authority. Thus, the administration consists of two different parts:
The political power of City Council cascading down to other boards
Public officials under the authority of the city mayor who administer and manage implementation of policy.
TheIndependence Party was historically the city's ruling party; it had an overall majority from its establishment in 1929 until 1978, when it narrowly lost. From 1978 until 1982, there was a three-party coalition composed of thePeople's Alliance, theSocial Democratic Party, and theProgressive Party. In 1982, the Independence Party regained an overall majority, which it held for three consecutive terms. The 1994 election was won by Reykjavíkurlistinn (the R-list), an alliance of Icelandic socialist parties, led byIngibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. This alliance won a majority in three consecutive elections, but was dissolved for the 2006 election when five different parties were on the ballot. The Independence Party won seven seats, and together with the one Progressive Party it were able to form a new majority in the council which took over in June 2006.
In October 2007, a new majority was formed on the council, consisting of members of the Progressive Party, theSocial Democratic Alliance, theLeft-Greens and the F-list (liberals and independents), after controversy regarding REI, a subsidiary of OR, the city's energy company. However, three months later the F-list formed a new majority together with the Independence Party.Ólafur F. Magnússon, the leader of the F-list, was elected mayor on 24 January 2008; further, in March 2009, the Independence Party was due to appoint a new mayor. This changed once again on 14 August 2008 when the fourth coalition of the term was formed, by the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance, withHanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir becoming mayor.
TheCity Council election in May 2010 saw a new political party,The Best Party, win six of 15 seats, and it formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Alliance; comedianJón Gnarr became mayor.[38] At the 2014 election, the Social Democratic Alliance had its best showing yet, gaining five seats in the council, whileBright Future (successor to the Best Party) received two seats and the two parties formed a coalition with theLeft-Green movement and thePirate Party, which won one seat each. The Independence Party had its worst election ever, with only four seats.
The mayor is appointed by the city council. Typically, one of the council members is chosen; however, they may also appoint a mayor who is not a member of the council.
The post was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908. Two applications were received, fromPáll Einarsson [is], sheriff and town mayor ofHafnarfjörður and fromKnud Zimsen [is], town councillor in Reykjavík. Páll was appointed on 7 May and was mayor for six years. At that time the city mayor received a salary of 4,500 ISK per year and 1,500 ISK for office expenses. The current mayor isHeiða Björg Hilmisdóttir.[39]
Reykjavík is by far the largest and most populous settlement in Iceland. The municipality of Reykjavík had a population of 138,772 on 1 January 2025, comprising 35.6% of the country's population. TheCapital Region, which includes the capital and six municipalities around it, was home to 249,054 people; that is about 64% of the country's population.[8][9][41]
On 1 January 2024, of the city's population of 136,894, immigrants of the first and second generation numbered 33,731 (24.6%), increasing from 22,311 (17.8%) in 2019, 12,352 (10.4%) in 2008 and 3,106 (2.9%) in 1998.[42] The most common foreign citizens arePoles,Lithuanians,Ukrainians andRomanians. About 64.8% of the city's foreign residents originate inEuropean Union andEFTA member states, and around 48.9% are from the new member states of the EU, mainly formerEastern Bloc countries,which joined in 2004,2007 and2013.[43]
Children of foreign origin form a more considerable minority in the city's schools: as many as a third in places.[44] The city is also visited by thousands of tourists, students, and other temporary residents, at times outnumbering natives in the city centre.[45]
Residents by citizenship (1 January 1998 – 2018)[46]
c Not included in the 1998 census. See Yugoslavia.
d Included as part of Serbia in the 2008 census, and as part of Yugoslavia in the 1998 census.
eFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2006). Some persons who were registered as Yugoslavians after 1992 may in fact have origins in any of the six original republics of the union.
f Including citizens of unspecified countries of formerYugoslavia and the formerSoviet Union.
Borgartún is the financial centre of Reykjavík, hosting a large number of companies and three investment banks. Reykjavík has been at the centre of Iceland's economic growth and subsequent economic contraction over the 2000s, a period referred to in foreign media as the "Nordic Tiger" years,[47][48] or "Iceland's Boom Years".[49] The economic boom led to a sharp increase in construction, with large redevelopment projects such asHarpa concert hall and conference centre and others. Many of these projects were halted during the2008 financial crisis.
There are 14 embassies in Reykjavik, in addition to ambassadorial residences, and representative offices for Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the European Union.[50]
Per capitacar ownership in Iceland is among the highest in the world at roughly 522 vehicles per 1,000 residents,[51] though Reykjavík is not severely affected bycongestion. Several multi-lane highways (mainlydual carriageways) run between the most heavily populated areas and most frequently driven routes. Parking spaces are also plentiful in most areas. Public transportation consists of a bus system calledStrætó.Route 1 (the Ring Road) runs through the city outskirts and connects the city to the rest of Iceland.
Reykjavík Airport is positioned inside the city, just south of the city centre. It is used for domestic flights, general aviation and medical flights. Since 1962, there has been some controversy regarding the location of this airport, since it takes up a lot of valuable space in central Reykjavík.Keflavík International Airport, located around 40 km southwest of the city, serves international flights and is the main gateway to the country.
Reykjavík has twoseaports: the old harbour near the city centre, which is mainly used byfishermen andcruise ships, andSundahöfn in the east city, which is the largestcargo port in the country and serves largercruise ships.
Two steam locomotives were used to build the harbourReykjavík Docks railway; both are now on display in Reykjavík.
There are no public railways in Iceland, because of its sparse population; however, the locomotives used to build the docks are on display. Proposals have been made for a high-speed rail link between the city andKeflavík.[52]
Geothermally powered snow-melting system being installed on Skólavörðustígur, Reykjavík.
Volcanic activity provides all of Reykjavík and surrounding areas withgeothermaldistrict heating systems for both residential and industrial districts. In heavily trafficked areas, mostly in the city centre, pavements and streets use geothermalsnow-melting systems. Many driveways of private residences are also fitted with geothermal snow-melting systems. Geothermal hot water is also used to heat the city's numerous public pools and hot tubs. Natural hot water is used to heat roughly 90% of all buildings in Iceland.[53] Of total annual use of geothermal energy of 39PJ, space heating accounted for 48%.[54]
The total thermal capacity of Reykjavíks hot water production is around 830MW, and the city has an average heating demand of 473 MW.[55] Hot water for Reyjavík'sdistrict heating comes from twocombined heat and power (CHP)geothermal power plants as well as lower temperature geothermal fields:[56]
Safnahúsið (the Culture House) was opened in 1909 and has a number of important exhibits. Originally built to house the National Library and National Archives and also previously the location of the National Museum and Natural History Museum, it was re-modeled in 2000 to promote the Icelandic national heritage. Many of Iceland's national treasures are on display, such as thePoetic Edda, and theSagas in their original manuscripts. There are also changing exhibitions of various topics.[57]
As Reykjavík is Iceland's capital and largest city, it plays a vital role in all cultural life in the country. The city is home to Iceland's main cultural institutions, boasts a flourishing arts scene and is renowned as a creative city with a diverse range of cultural happenings and dynamic grassroots activities. Most of the country's writers live in the city, and it also provides the setting for the majority of contemporary Icelandic literature – a development that has gone hand in hand with the rapid expansion of the city in the past 100 years or so.
Reykjavík is home to Icelandic medieval literature, including theSagas of the Icelanders and thePoetic Edda, landmarks of world literature still widely read and translated today. This literary heritage is the core of the nation's identity and narrative art is the single most important part of its cultural history. TheÁrni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík is the centre of this heritage. It preserves manuscripts, conducts research on them and publishes texts for the public, in addition to offering research facilities and tutoring to foreign scholars and students. TheArnamagnæan Manuscript Collection was added to theUNESCO Memory of the World Register on 31 July 2009. Reykjavík city was designated as aUNESCO City of Literature in 2011 and joined then theUNESCO Creatives Cities network.
Iceland is one of the smallest linguistic areas in the world, with only around 330,000 inhabitants and very few speakers outside the country. The language has not changed much since the time of settlement in the 9th century and modern Icelanders can still read the original medieval texts with relative ease. Literature plays a vital role in cherishing and cultivating the language, both original Icelandic literature and translations. Language undergoes constant renewal and development in fiction, and translation of foreign work has also been instrumental in conserving this thousand-year-old literary language.
Alcohol is expensive at bars. People tend to drink at home before going out. Beer wasbanned in Iceland until 1 March 1989 but has since become popular among many Icelanders as their alcoholic drink of choice.[58]
The arrival of the new year is a particular cause for celebration to the people of Reykjavík. Icelandic law states that anyone may purchase and use fireworks between 28 December and 6 January. As a result, every New Year's Eve the city is lit up withfireworks displays.[60]
Reykjavík Golf Club was established in 1934. It is the oldest and largest golf club in Iceland, and consists of two 18-hole courses – one atGrafarholt and the other at Korpa. The Grafarholt golf course opened in 1963, which makes it the oldest 18-hole golf course in Iceland. The Korpa golf course opened in 1997.[61]
Clubs classified as youth clubs offer youth teams where anyone can train with the team, though each club is based in a certain area of Reykjavík and mainly serves that area.
ÍR (Breiðholt youth club (Neðra-Breiðholt/Seljahverfi))
In July 2013, mayor Jón Gnarr filed a motion before the city council to terminate the city's relationship with Moscow, in response to a trend ofanti-gay legislation in Russia.[65]Lviv in Ukraine replaced Moscow in 2023.[62]
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