Capital Region (Iceland) Explained

Capital Region
Native Name:	Höfuðborgarsvæðið
Native Name Lang:	is
Settlement Type:	Capital region
Coordinates:	64.1846°N -21.6131°W
Subdivision Type:	Country
Subdivision Name:	Iceland
Seat:	Reykjavík
Unit Pref:	Metric
Area Total Km2:	1062.2
Population As Of:	2022
Population Total:	240882
Population Density Km2:	226.8
Timezone1:	GMT
Utc Offset1:	+0:00

The Capital Region (Icelandic: Höfuðborgarsvæðið|lit=capital area; in Icelandic pronounced as /ˈhœːvʏðˌpɔrkarˌsvaiːðɪθ/) is a region in southwestern Iceland that comprises the national capital Reykjavík and six municipalities around it.^[1] ^[2] Each municipality has its own elected council. Municipal governments in the region cooperate extensively in various fields: for example waste policy, shared public transport and a joint fire brigade. The region is home to 64% of Iceland's population.

The region contains Iceland's largest urban area by far, Greater Reykjavík (Icelandic: Stór-Reykjavík), a conurbation that includes parts of six out of seven municipalities of the region (Kjósarhreppur is all rural).

Municipalities

Seven municipalities make up the Capital Region with Reykjavík being the most populated by far with 135,688 inhabitants. Kjósarhreppur is the largest municipality by area (287.7km2) but is entirely rural and only has 244 inhabitants. Seltjarnarnes is the smallest municipality with an area of 2.3km2.

Municipalities	Population (1 January 2022)^[3]	Area (km²)^[4]	Density (Pop/km²)
	135,688	277.1	489.7
	38,998	83.7	465.9
	29,763	143.3	207.7
	18,445	74.4	247.9
	13,024	193.7	67.2
	4,720	2.3	2052.2
	244	287.7	0.8
Total	240,882	1,062.2	226.8

Urban areas

Statistics Iceland has defined contiguous urban areas which ignore municipal boundaries. An urban area may straddle multiple municipalities and a single municipality may contain more than one urban area.

Urban area	Population (1 January 2022)^[5]	Municipalities
Greater Reykjavík	236,518	Reykjavík Kópavogur Hafnarfjörður Garðabær Mosfellsbær Seltjarnarnes
Álftanes	2,530	Garðabær
Grundarhverfi	535	Reykjavík
Mosfellsdalur	262	Mosfellsbær
Rural	1,037
Total	240,882

External links

64.1333°N -21.9333°W

Notes and References

Association of municipalities in the Capital area English version Retrieved on 5. June 2010
Sigurður Guðmundsson. „Hvernig eru hugtökin dreifbýli og landsbyggð skilgreind hér á landi?“ The Icelandic Web of Science. 18.8.2000. Retrieved on 6. June 2010 (In Icelandic)
Web site: Population by municipalities, sex and age 1 January 1998-2022 - Division into municipalites as of 1 January 2022 . 1 January 2022 . www.hagstofa.is . . 4 October 2022 .
National Land Survey of Iceland. Sveitarfélagaskjárinn. Retrieved on 6. June 2010 (In Icelandic)
Web site: Population by localities, sex and age 1 January 2001-2022 . 1 January 2022 . www.hagstofa.is . . 4 October 2022 .