In the 1750s, several houses were built to house the wool industry, which was Reykjavík's most important employer for a few decades and the original reason for its existence.
In 1752, King Frederik V of Denmark donated the estate of Reykjavík to the Innréttingar Corporation; the name comes from the Danish-language word indretninger, meaning institution.
The city was founded in 1785 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the following decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities.
Other industries were undertaken by the Innréttingar, such as fisheries, sulphur mining, agriculture, and shipbuilding. The Danish Crown abolished monopoly trading in 1786 and granted six communities around the country an exclusive trading charter.
In the modern language, as in English, the word for 'smoke' and the word for fog or steamy vapour are not commonly confused, but this is believed to have been the case in the old language. The original name was Reykjarvík (with an additional "r" representing the usual genitive ending of strong nouns) but this had vanished around 1800. The Reykjavík area was farmland until the 18th century.
In 1845 Alþingi, the general assembly formed in 930 AD, was re-established in Reykjavík; it had been suspended a few decades earlier when it was located at Þingvellir.
The location of Alþingi in Reykjavík effectively established the city as the capital of Iceland. In 1874, Iceland was given a constitution; with it, Alþingi gained some limited legislative powers and in essence became the institution that it is today.
After 1880, free trade was expanded to all nationalities, and the influence of Icelandic merchants started to grow. ===Rise of nationalism=== Icelandic nationalist sentiment gained influence in the 19th century, and the idea of Icelandic independence became widespread.
The next step was to move most of the executive power to Iceland: Home Rule was granted in 1904 when the office of Minister For Iceland was established in Reykjavík.
The Independence Party had its worst election ever, with only four seats. ===Mayor=== The mayor is appointed by the city council; usually one of the council members is chosen, but they may also appoint a mayor who is not a member of the council. The post was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908.
The Independence Party had its worst election ever, with only four seats. ===Mayor=== The mayor is appointed by the city council; usually one of the council members is chosen, but they may also appoint a mayor who is not a member of the council. The post was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908.
Of total annual use of geothermal energy of 39 PJ, space heating accounted for 48%. Most of the district heating in Iceland comes from three main geothermal power plants: Svartsengi combined heat and power plant (CHP) Nesjavellir CHP plant Hellisheiði CHP plant ==Cultural heritage== Safnahúsið (the Culture House) was opened in 1909 and has a number of important exhibits.
The highest temperature recorded in Reykjavík was , reported on 30 July 2008, while the lowest-ever recorded temperature was , recorded on 21 January 1918.
The coldest month on record is January 1918, with a mean temperature of .
Thus, the administration consists of two different parts: The political power of City Council cascading down to other boards Public officials under the authority of the city mayor who administer and manage implementation of policy. ===Political control=== The Independence Party was historically the city's ruling party; it had an overall majority from its establishment in 1929 until 1978, when it narrowly lost.
In 1944, the Republic of Iceland was founded and a president, elected by the people, replaced the king; the office of the president was placed in Reykjavík. ===Post-war development=== In the post-war years, the growth of Reykjavík accelerated.
Halldór Laxness was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955 for “vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland”.
Since 1962, there has been some controversy regarding the location of the airport, since it takes up a lot of valuable space in central Reykjavík. Reykjavík has two seaports, the old harbour near the city centre which is mainly used by fishermen and cruise ships, and Sundahöfn in the east city which is the largest cargo port in the country. ===Railways=== There are no public railways in Iceland, because of its sparse population, but the locomotives used to build the docks are on display.
The Grafarholt golf course opened in 1963, which makes it the oldest 18-hole golf course in Iceland.
Private cars became common, and modern apartment complexes rose in the expanding suburbs. In 1972, Reykjavík hosted the world chess championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.
Thus, the administration consists of two different parts: The political power of City Council cascading down to other boards Public officials under the authority of the city mayor who administer and manage implementation of policy. ===Political control=== The Independence Party was historically the city's ruling party; it had an overall majority from its establishment in 1929 until 1978, when it narrowly lost.
From 1978 until 1982, there was a three-party coalition composed of the People's Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, and the Progressive Party.
From 1978 until 1982, there was a three-party coalition composed of the People's Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, and the Progressive Party.
In 1982, the Independence Party regained an overall majority, which it held for three consecutive terms.
The 1986 Reykjavík Summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev underlined Reykjavík's international status.
Beer was banned in Iceland until 1 March 1989 but has since become popular among many Icelanders as their alcoholic drink of choice. ===Live music=== The Iceland Airwaves music festival is staged annually in November.
Deregulation in the financial sector and the computer revolution of the 1990s again transformed Reykjavík.
The 1994 election was won by Reykjavíkurlistinn (the R-list), an alliance of Icelandic socialist parties, led by Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir.
The Capital Region, which includes the capital and six municipalities around it, was home to 233,034 people; that is about 64% of the country's population. On 1 January 2019, of the city's population of 128,793, immigrants of the first and second generation numbered 23,995 (18.6%), increasing from 12,352 (10.4%) in 2008 and 3,106 (2.9%) in 1998. The most common foreign citizens are Poles, Lithuanians, and Latvians.
Originally built to house the National Library and National Archives and also previously the location of the National Museum and Natural History Museum, in 2000 it was re-modeled to promote the Icelandic national heritage.
About 80% of the city's foreign residents originate in European Union and EFTA member states, and over 58% are from the new member states of the EU, mainly former Eastern Bloc countries, which joined in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Children of foreign origin form a more considerable minority in the city's schools: as many as a third in places.
This alliance won a majority in three consecutive elections, but was dissolved for the 2006 election when five different parties were on the ballot.
The Independence Party won seven seats, and together with the one Progressive Party they were able to form a new majority in the council which took over in June 2006. In October 2007 a new majority was formed on the council, consisting of members of the Progressive Party, the Social Democratic Alliance, the Left-Greens and the F-list (liberals and independents), after controversy regarding REI, a subsidiary of OR, the city's energy company.
July and August are the warmest months of the year on average and January and February the coldest. In the summer of 2007, no rain was measured for one month.
The Independence Party won seven seats, and together with the one Progressive Party they were able to form a new majority in the council which took over in June 2006. In October 2007 a new majority was formed on the council, consisting of members of the Progressive Party, the Social Democratic Alliance, the Left-Greens and the F-list (liberals and independents), after controversy regarding REI, a subsidiary of OR, the city's energy company.
About 80% of the city's foreign residents originate in European Union and EFTA member states, and over 58% are from the new member states of the EU, mainly former Eastern Bloc countries, which joined in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Children of foreign origin form a more considerable minority in the city's schools: as many as a third in places.
The highest temperature recorded in Reykjavík was , reported on 30 July 2008, while the lowest-ever recorded temperature was , recorded on 21 January 1918.
Magnússon, the leader of the F-list, was elected mayor on 24 January 2008, and in March 2009 the Independence Party was due to appoint a new mayor.
This changed once again on 14 August 2008 when the fourth coalition of the term was formed, by the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance, with Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir becoming mayor. The City Council election in May 2010 saw a new political party, The Best Party, win six of 15 seats, and they formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Alliance; comedian Jón Gnarr became mayor.
The Capital Region, which includes the capital and six municipalities around it, was home to 233,034 people; that is about 64% of the country's population. On 1 January 2019, of the city's population of 128,793, immigrants of the first and second generation numbered 23,995 (18.6%), increasing from 12,352 (10.4%) in 2008 and 3,106 (2.9%) in 1998. The most common foreign citizens are Poles, Lithuanians, and Latvians.
Many of these projects came to a halt in the following economic crash of 2008. ==Infrastructure== ===Roads=== Per capita car ownership in Iceland is among the highest in the world at roughly 522 vehicles per 1,000 residents, though Reykjavík is not severely affected by congestion.
In 2008, natural hot water was used to heat roughly 90% of all buildings in Iceland.
Magnússon, the leader of the F-list, was elected mayor on 24 January 2008, and in March 2009 the Independence Party was due to appoint a new mayor.
The Arnamagnean Manuscript Collection was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register on 31 July 2009.
This changed once again on 14 August 2008 when the fourth coalition of the term was formed, by the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance, with Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir becoming mayor. The City Council election in May 2010 saw a new political party, The Best Party, win six of 15 seats, and they formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Alliance; comedian Jón Gnarr became mayor.
Reykjavík city was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature in 2011 and joined then the UNESCO Creatives Cities network. Iceland is one of the smallest linguistic areas in the world, with only around 330,000 inhabitants and very few speakers outside the country.
About 80% of the city's foreign residents originate in European Union and EFTA member states, and over 58% are from the new member states of the EU, mainly former Eastern Bloc countries, which joined in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Children of foreign origin form a more considerable minority in the city's schools: as many as a third in places.
At the 2014 election, the Social Democratic Alliance had its best showing yet, gaining five seats in the council, while Bright Future (successor to the Best Party) received two seats and the two parties formed a coalition with the Left-Green movement and the Pirate Party, which won one seat each.
The warmest is July 2019, with a mean temperature of . ==Cityscape== ==City administration== The Reykjavík City Council governs the city of Reykjavík and is directly elected by those aged over 18 domiciled in the city.
The Capital Region, which includes the capital and six municipalities around it, was home to 233,034 people; that is about 64% of the country's population. On 1 January 2019, of the city's population of 128,793, immigrants of the first and second generation numbered 23,995 (18.6%), increasing from 12,352 (10.4%) in 2008 and 3,106 (2.9%) in 1998. The most common foreign citizens are Poles, Lithuanians, and Latvians.
The municipality of Reykjavík had a population of 131,136 on 1 January 2020; that is 36% of the country's population.
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