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Reykjavik

Capital of IcelandReykjavik is on the southern shore of Faxaflói, a wide bay in southwest Iceland.

Why it's the capital

According to the Book of Settlement, Ingólfr Arnarson came from Norway in 874 and settled here after throwing his high-seat pillars overboard and following where they came ashore. The Althing parliament was re-established in Reykjavik in 1845, which made it the capital of Iceland.

Fun facts

  1. At about 64° north, it is the northernmost capital of any sovereign state in the world.
  2. The name means 'smoky bay', after the steam rising from hot springs in the area.
  3. In 1986 Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, met here for the Reykjavík Summit.

Finding it on the globe

Iceland is the large island in the North Atlantic, just south of the Arctic Circle. Reykjavik is on its southwest corner, on a bay that opens to the west.

Sources: Wikipedia: Reykjavík, Wikipedia: Iceland