Iceland is a Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is linked culturally and politically with Europe, and is the region's most sparsely populated country. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents. The official language of the country is Icelandic.
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. Reykjavík has a population of around 140,000 as of 2023. The Capital Region has a population of around 248,000.
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to a US township or county or English shire district.
The Rural Municipality of Gimli is a rural municipality located in the Interlake Region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about 75 kilometres (47 mi) north of the provincial capital Winnipeg. The rural municipality's population in the 2016 Canadian Census was 6,181, making it the 12th largest rural municipality by population. The RM of Gimli has an area of 318.75 km2 (123.07 sq mi), making it the sixth smallest rural municipality by area.
Most municipalities in Iceland include more than one settlement. For example, four localities can all be found in the municipality of Árborg.
Akranes is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around 50 km (31 mi) north of the capital Reykjavík.
Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as sýslur, and 23 independent towns known as kaupstaðir. Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police and carry out administrative functions such as declaring bankruptcy and marrying people outside of the church. The jurisdictions of these magistrates often follow the lines of the historical counties, but not always. When speaking of these new "administrative" counties, the custom is to associate them with the county seats rather than using the names of the traditional counties, even when they cover the same area.
The municipalities of Iceland are local administrative areas in Iceland that provide a number of services to their inhabitants such as kindergartens, elementary schools, waste management, social services, public housing, public transportation, services to senior citizens and disabled people. They also govern zoning and can voluntarily take on additional functions if they have the budget for it. The autonomy of municipalities over their own matters is guaranteed by the Icelandic constitution.
Kópavogur is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population.
Iceland is divided into 6 constituencies for the purpose of selecting representatives to parliament.
Reykjanesbær is a municipality on the Southern Peninsula (Suðurnes) in Iceland, though the name is also used by locals to refer to the suburban region of Keflavík and Njarðvík which have grown together over the years. The municipality is made up of the towns Keflavík, Njarðvík and the village of Hafnir. The municipality was created in 1994 when the inhabitants of the three towns voted to merge them into one. Reykjanesbær is the fourth largest municipality in Iceland, with 19,676 citizens (2021).
Garðabær is a municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland.
ISO 3166-2:IS is the entry for Iceland in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.
Mosfellsbær is a town in south-west Iceland, 12 kilometres east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated with the Celtic nations. The coat of arms might denote the Gaelic heritage of Mosfellsbær as Icelanders are also descended from Gaelic-speaking settlers who voyaged or were brought by the Norsemen in Iceland during the country's settlement in the Viking Age.
The regions of Iceland are eight areas of Iceland that roughly follow the arrangement of parliamentary constituencies as they were between 1959 and 2003. These regions are not incorporated polities but rather recognized groupings of municipalities. Iceland only has two levels of administration, the national government and 64 municipalities. The municipalities have organized themselves into eight regional associations and those boundaries are also recognized by Statistics Iceland to report statistics. Since 2014, police and commissioner (sýslumaður) districts have followed the eight region model with the exception that Vestmannaeyjar form a special district and are not part of the South region. The divisions of Iceland for the purposes of health care and district courts diverge more from the commonly used eight region model.
The Capital Region is a region in southwestern Iceland that comprises the national capital Reykjavík and six municipalities around it. 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.
This article shows the administrative divisions of Iceland.
Elfros is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Elfros No. 307 and Census Division No. 10. It is northeast of Regina and southeast of the Quill Lakes at the junction of Highway 16 and Highway 35. It was the hometown of the protagonist in the 2018 Canadian horror film Archons.
Fjarðabyggð is a municipality located in eastern Iceland, in the Eastern Region.
Borgarbyggð is a municipality in the west of Iceland.
