The regions of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

are eight areas of Iceland that roughly follow the arrangement of

parliamentary constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

as they were between 1959 and 2003. These regions are not incorporated polities but rather recognized groupings of municipalities. Iceland only has two levels of administration, the national government and 69

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

. The municipalities have organized themselves into eight regional associations and those boundaries are also recognized by

Statistics Iceland Statistics Iceland ( is, Hagstofa Íslands) is the main official institute providing statistics on the nation of Iceland. It was created by the Althing in 1913, began operations in 1914 and became an independent government agency under the Pri ...

to report statistics. Since 2014,

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

and commissioner (''

sýslumaður (; plural: ; non, sýslumaðr , no, sysselmann, da, sysselmænd) is a governmental office or title used in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. The position originated in Norway in the Middle Ages, where it was used as a noble title, and ...

'') districts have followed the eight region model with the exception that

Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyj ...

form a special district and are not part of the South region. The divisions of Iceland for the purposes of health care and district courts diverge more from the commonly used eight region model. The

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

system also roughly corresponds with the regions with the first digit of the three digit codes usually being the same as on the map below.

Overview

Differences from the 1959-2003 constituencies

Until 1957, the parliamentary constituencies used in Iceland had been based on its

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and market towns. The reform of constituency borders in 1957 would group these counties and towns together into eight larger areas that form the basis for the modern regional division of Iceland. The differences between the 1957 boundaries and the modern ones are: * The southwestern part of the country was previously divided into Reykjavík on one hand and Reykjanes on the other which encompassed all other municipalities in the vicinity of Reykjavík and on the

Reykjanes peninsula Southern Peninsula ( is, Suðurnes ) is an administrative unit and part of Reykjanesskagi (pronounced ), or Reykjanes Peninsula, a region in southwest Iceland. It was named after Reykjanes, the southwestern tip of Reykjanesskagi. The region ha ...

. The same area is currently divided into the Capital region on one hand and the Southern Peninsula on the other * The municipality of Hornafjörður decided in 2008 to leave the association for municipalities in the Eastern region and join the Southern region.

updated its definition of the statistical regions to reflect this on 1 December 2020. * The area of the former town of

Siglufjörður Siglufjörður () is a small fishing town in a narrow fjord with the same name on the northern coast of Iceland. The population in 2011 was 1,206; the town has been shrinking in size since the 1950s when the town reached its peak of 3,000 inhabi ...

was transferred from the Northwestern region to the Northeastern region when the town merged across the regional boundary with

Ólafsfjörður Ólafsfjörður () is a town in the northeast of Iceland located at the mouth of the fjord Eyjafjörður. The town is connected to Dalvík on Eyjafjörður by the 3.5 km one-lane Múli tunnel (the '' Múlagöng'') and to Siglufjörður by th ...

to form Fjallabyggð in 2006. * The area of the former municipality of Skeggjastaðahreppur was transferred from the Eastern region to the Northeastern region when the municipality merged across the regional boundary with Þórshafnarhreppur to form

Langanesbyggð Langanesbyggð () is a municipality in northeastern Iceland, just north of Eastern Region. The main village is Þórshöfn, in the north there is the Langanes Langanes () is a peninsula in northeast Iceland. The name literally means "long pen ...

in 2006. * The area of the former municipality of Bæjarhreppur was transferred from the Westfjords region to the Northwestern region when the municipality merged across the regional boundary with Húnaþing vestra under the name of the latter in 2012.

References

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries Subdivisions of Iceland Iceland, Regions Iceland 0 Iceland geography-related lists

Overview

Differences from the 1959-2003 constituencies

See also

References