Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital city of Iceland.

Iceland is an island in the north Atlantic Ocean. Reykjavík sits by the sea. Many of its houses have brightly painted roofs.

Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland, an island country in the North Atlantic. It is the country's economic, cultural and political center, and by far its biggest town.

Statistics Iceland's estimate gives 139,804 people in Reykjavík on 1 January 2026, out of 394,324 in the whole country. That means more than a third of everyone in Iceland lives in this one municipality.

Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland and its most populous municipality, which Visit Reykjavík calls the nation's economic, cultural and political center.

Statistics Iceland's estimate for 1 January 2026 gives 139,804 inhabitants, the largest of the country's 62 municipalities and about 35 percent of Iceland's 394,324 people. Reykjavík grew by 0.7 percent in 2025, below the national average of 1.3 percent.

Under one street in Reykjavík are the remains of a Viking house, more than a thousand years old.

The city also has a tall church. You can go up its tower to look over the city.

Below Aðalstræti, a street in the city center, you can see the excavated remains of a Viking longhouse from the 900s. The museum there tells how Reykjavík grew from a farm into a city.

Hallgrímskirkja, a church whose design was inspired by Iceland's dramatic landscapes, is named after Hallgrímur Pétursson, a poet and pastor of the 1600s. Visitors can go up its tower for views over the city. By the harbor stands Harpa, a concert hall that opened in 2011.

The Reykjavík City Museum's exhibition at Aðalstræti 10 and 16 runs underground from the remains of a 10th-century Viking longhouse to Aðalstræti 10, the oldest remaining building in the Kvosin area, tracing the city's development from a farm to a city.

Hallgrímskirkja, an Evangelical Lutheran church named after the 17th-century poet and pastor Hallgrímur Pétursson, is described by Visit Reykjavík as one of the finest examples of modern Icelandic design, its architecture inspired by Iceland's natural landscapes; its tower is open to visitors. Harpa, a concert hall and cultural center, opened in 2011.

Deep under Reykjavík, the ground is very hot. It heats water down there.

Pipes bring the hot water up to warm houses, schools and swimming pools.

Reykjavík is heated by hot water from underground, called geothermal water. In 1928 the city drilled its first heating well at Þvottalaugarnar, where people had long washed their clothes in warm springs. The water came up at 87 °C and was piped about three kilometers to a swimming pool, a school, a hospital and about sixty houses.

The city's first indoor swimming pool, Sundhöllin, opened in 1937. The Laugardalur area now has nine hot-water wells, and in 2026 the city's utility, Veitur, began drilling more to keep up with a growing city.

Reykjavík's first district heating well was drilled in 1928 at Þvottalaugarnar, a place long used for washing clothes; it yielded 14 liters a second at 87 °C, piped about 3 km to Sundhöllin, Austurbæjarskóli school, Landspítali hospital and around sixty houses. Sundhöll Reykjavíkur, the city's first indoor pool, opened in March 1937.

The City of Reykjavík says geothermal heat beneath Laugardalur has kept residents warm for nearly a century; nine wells operate there, and in 2026 Veitur Utilities began drilling a new well at Kringlumýrarbraut and Suðurlandsbraut to secure enough hot water for a growing city.

Reykjavík has swimming pools warmed with water from under the ground.

Fishing has long been important here. There is a museum all about fishing boats and fishers.

Thanks to its hot water, Reykjavík has heated swimming pools; the first indoor one, Sundhöllin, opened in 1937. Fishing has long been important to the city: the Reykjavík Maritime Museum tells how rowing boats gave way to big fishing ships in the late 1800s.

Reykjavík has a history of firsts for Iceland too. In 1908 the first women in Iceland were elected to Reykjavík's city council, and the University of Iceland opened here in 1911.

Geothermal water made heated public pools part of city life: Sundhöll Reykjavíkur, the first indoor pool, opened in March 1937 on the early district heating network. The Reykjavík Maritime Museum's exhibition "Fish & folk" traces Icelandic fisheries from the late 19th century, when rowing boats gave way to large fishing vessels, into the 21st century; the Naval Academy opened in 1891 after decked ships arrived.

In the municipal elections of January 1908, candidates on a women's list became the first women elected to a council in Iceland, the same year Reykjavík's first mayor took office.