Greater Reykjavík Area
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The Greater Reykjavík area (Icelandic: Höfuðborgarsvæðið) is the local area of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, and its suburbs. The suburbs are:
By population
- Kópavogur (Kopavogur): 25,803
- Hafnarfjörður (Hafnarfjordur): 22,000
- Garðabær (Gardabaer): 9,053
- Mosfellsbær (Mosfellsbaer): 6,817
- Seltjarnarnes: 4,548
- Álftanes (Alftanes): 2,032
(Populations in December 2004)
By location
- West of Reykjavík: Seltjarnarnes
- North-east of Reykjavík: Mosfellsbær
- South of Reykjavík: Kópavogur, Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður and Álftanes
[edit] Overview
Reykjavík itself is located on an 8 km long and 5 km wide peninsula, Seltjarnarnes. The peninsula peaks out of the south-eastern coast of Faxaflói Bay. Its landscape has many small hills and one main valley, Laugardalur. On the north coast of Seltjarnarnes there is a small bay called Reykjavík and at its coast is located the historical centre of Reykjavík and its oldest city part.
Development through decades have made this historical centre distant from the centre of the metropolitan area. In fact, the geographical centre is in Kópavogur, the biggest suburb of Reykjavík. Five of the six suburbs have developed in the recent 50-70 years, the exception is Hafnarfjörður-an old fishing town.
The mass of the population of this area lives either at the Seltjarnarnes peninsula or in the three suburbs of Reykjavík. Each of the suburb was planned individually, and in between them are big, almost unused spaces. The suburbs are called Breiðholt, the southernmost and biggest suburb, Árbær in the middle, the smallest suburb but includes the most populated street in Iceland with 1000 inhabitants, and Grafarvogur, the latest suburb. Grafarholt is also a residential district, but it's so small that it is generally included with Grafarvogur.
All of the suburbs are south and east of Reykjavík. The landscape of this area is characterized with small peninsulas, bays and many small islands. Seltjarnarnes lies from south to west but a bay divides it from the mainland lying north to south, straight through the peninsula. It only merges with the mainland in the south.
The downtowns of Hafnarfjörður and Reykjavík make an attracting line and the urban area is in between these attractions. Reykjavík has most of the jobs of this area and is also mostly dense, except Grafarvogur. The town of Seltjarnarnes, at the end of the peninsula, is a dense residential district and includes almost no jobs. Mosfellsbær has not yet developed so that it connects to Reykjavík and is an individual town. Kópavogur includes mostly residents but also some jobs, however, it has no actual downtown and most of the jobs are at a lately developed area as well as most of the high and dense residential buildings. Garðabær, south of Kópavogur, is mostly a residential district with very wide-spread houses. Hafnarfjörður has got many jobs as well as residents.
Reykjavík affects bigger zones then just this particular one. Most of Iceland's population is within a 50 kilometre radius of Reykjavík. More and more Icelanders are starting to talk about the whole of south-west Iceland as the Greater Reykjavík area.
 |
Regions and Counties of Iceland |  |
|---|---|---|
| Statistical Region | Traditional County | |
| Capital Region: | Kjósarsýsla | |
| Southern Peninsula: | Gullbringusýsla | |
| Western Region: | Borgarfjarðarsýsla | Dalasýsla |Mýrasýsla | Snæfellsnes- og Hnappadalssýsla | |
| Westfjords: | Austur-Barðastrandarsýsla | Norður-Ísafjarðarsýsla | Strandasýsla Vestur-Barðastrandarsýsla | Vestur-Ísafjarðarsýsla |
|
| Northwestern Region: | Austur-Húnavatnssýsla | Skagafjarðarsýsla | Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla | |
| Northeastern Region: | Eyjafjarðarsýsla | Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla | Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla | |
| Eastern Region: | Austur-Skaftafellssýsla | Norður-Múlasýsla | Suður-Múlasýsla | |
| Southern Region: | Árnessýsla | Rangárvallasýsla | Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla | |
