All in all, there are 72 municipalities in Iceland. The most populous one is, of course, the capital city Reykjavík with 140,000 inhabitants, while the least populous is Tjörneshreppur with 53 inhabitants, one fewer than Árneshreppur in the northern Strandir region and Skorradalshreppur in western Iceland. The largest municipality by area, however, is Thingeyjarsveit, covering 12,021 km², with 1,411 inhabitants. This municipality stretches from Vatnajökull glacier all the way north to Skjálfandaflói and covers over 11% of Iceland.
The second largest is Múlathing, covering 10,671 km², with 5,177 inhabitants in eastern Iceland, stretching from Vatnajökull north and east to Héradsflói. The third largest is Skaftárhreppur, 6,943 km², located southwest of Vatnajökull, with 620 inhabitants, according to Statistics Iceland. In fourth place is Hornafjördur, covering 6,309 km², with 2,488 inhabitants under the southeastern part of Vatnajökull. In fifth place is Skagafjördur with its 4,277 inhabitants, and an area of 5,543 km². Borgarbyggd in western Iceland ranks sixth, covering 4,927 km², with 4,112 inhabitants.
The smallest municipality in Iceland by area is Seltjarnarnes, with its 4,577 inhabitants and a size of just under 2 km², while Reykjavík, the capital, is fairly large at 244 km², as several mountains lie within the city limits—the most famous being Esja, the mountain of Reykjavíkians.
Iceland 23/09/2024: A7CR – FE 2.5/40mm G, FE 2.8/100mm GM
Images & text: Páll Stefánsson
