The municipalities of Iceland ( ; sing. ) are local administrative areas in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

that provide a number of services to their inhabitants such as

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

, services to

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

s and

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

people. They also govern

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

and can voluntarily take on additional functions if they have the budget for it. The autonomy of municipalities over their own matters is guaranteed by the Icelandic constitution.

History

The origin of the municipalities can be traced back to the

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

period in the 10th century when rural communities were organized into communes (''hreppar'' ) with the main purpose of providing help for the poorest individuals in society. When

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

began in Iceland during the 18th and 19th centuries, several independent

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s (''kaupstaðir'' ) were created. The role of municipalities was further formalized during the 20th century and by the end of the century there was no longer any official distinction between urban and rural municipalities. The trend in recent years has been to transfer more functions and power from the state to the municipalities. This has called for larger municipalities. The government encourages municipalities to merge but has taken a different approach to the issue than governments in other

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

where forced amalgamation is regularly carried out (such as the municipal reform in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

that took effect in 2007). Instead, the process is voluntary. Municipalities negotiate possible mergers among themselves, and any merger must first receive approval from the relevant municipality's constituent voting electorate in a referendum. A similar approach is used by the Faroese government. However, municipalities having a population of below 50 may be forced to merge. The number of municipalities peaked in the mid-20th century. There were 229 of them in 1950. From 1986 to 1998, their number decreased from 222 to 124. From 2000 to 2024, their number decreased from 124 to the current figure of 62.

Government

The municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are directly elected every four years. Municipal elections were last held on 14 May 2022. The sizes of these councils vary from five members in the smallest municipalities to fifteen in the largest one. Most municipalities except for the very small ones hire an executive manager who may or may not be a member of the municipal council. These managers are usually referred to as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

s (''bæjarstjóri'' or ''borgarstjóri'' ) in the mostly urban municipalities but "municipal manager" (''sveitarstjóri'' ) in the rural or mixed municipalities. It is common for these executive managers to be professionally hired and politically independent.

List of municipalities

History

From 1953 to 2024, the number of municipalities in Iceland decreased from 229 to 62: * 1 August 2024 (reduced to 62) ** Skagabyggð merges with

Húnabyggð Húnabyggð () is a municipality in the north of Iceland, which was formed with the merger of Blönduós and Húnavatnshreppur. A vote was held in February 2022 where 97.8% of Blönduós inhabitants and 62.3% of Húnavatnshreppur inhabitants voted ...

. *19 May 2024 (reduced to 63) ** Tálknafjarðarhreppur merges with

Vesturbyggð Vesturbyggð () is a municipality located in the Westfjords in Iceland. The municipality includes the towns of Patreksfjörður, with 721 inhabitants; Tálknafjörður, with 261 inhabitants; Bíldudalur, with 238 inhabitants; and Krossholt, wi ...

. *14 May 2022 (reduced to 64) ** Skútustaðahreppur merged with Þingeyjarsveit. **Stykkishólmsbær and Helgafellssveit merged to form Stykkishólmur. ** Svalbarðshreppur merged with

Langanesbyggð Langanesbyggð () is a municipality in northeastern Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is ...

. ** Akrahreppur merged with

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

. ** Blönduósbær and

Húnavatnshreppur Húnavatnshreppur () is a former rural municipality located in northwestern Iceland. History The municipality was formed on 1 January 2006 by the union of the former municipalities of Sveinsstaðahreppur , Torfalækjarhreppur , Svínavatnsh ...

merged to form

*17 February 2020 (reduced to 69) ** Borgarfjarðarhreppur, Djúpavogshreppur, Fljótsdalshérað, and Seyðisfjarðarkaupstaður merged to form

Múlaþing Múlaþing () is a municipality in eastern Iceland which was formed in 2020 from the merger of Fljótsdalshérað, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarfjarðarhreppur and Djúpavogshreppur. It is the second largest municipality in the country by area (th ...

. *24 January 2019 ** Akureyrarkaupstaður renamed into Akureyrarbær. *7 January 2019 **Sandgerði/Garður renamed into Suðurnesjabær. *26 May 2018 (reduced to 72) ** Breiðdalshreppur merged with

Fjarðabyggð Fjarðabyggð () is a municipality located in eastern Iceland, in the Eastern Region. History The municipality was formed in 1998 with the union of the former municipalities of Eskifjörður, Neskaupstaður and Reyðarfjörður. Austurbyggð, ...

. ** Sandgerði and Garður merged to form Sandgerði/Garður. *13 August 2013 **Seltjarnarneskaupstaður renamed into Seltjarnarnesbær. *1 January 2013 (reduced to 74) **

Álftanes Álftanes () is the name of a town and a collection of small peninsulas in Iceland. It means ''swan peninsula''. The best known of these peninsulas extrudes from the eastern part of Reykjanes with the town of the same name in the Capital Region ...

merged with

Garðabær Garðabær () is a town and municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. History Garðabær is a growing town in the Capital Region. It is the fifth largest municipality in Iceland with a population of 20,116 (1 January 2025). The site of Gar ...

. *1 January 2012 (reduced to 75) **Bæjarhreppur merged with

Húnaþing vestra Húnaþing vestra () is a municipality located in northern Iceland by Húnaflói gulf. It was founded on 7 June 1998 by the merging of all 7 of the old rural municipalities of Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla. They were: Staðarhreppur, Fremri-Torfustaðahr ...

*11 June 2010 (reduced to 76) **Arnarneshreppur merged with Hörgárbyggð. *1 June 2009 (reduced to 77) **Grímseyjarhreppur merged with Akureyrarkaupstaður. *15 July 2008 (reduced to 78) **Aðaldælahreppur merged with Þingeyjarsveit. *12 September 2007 **Höfðahreppur renamed into

Skagaströnd Skagaströnd (), previously Höfðakaupstaður (), is a Municipalities of Iceland, municipality and village in the Northwestern Region (Iceland), Northwestern Region of Iceland. It is situated on the western side of the Skagi peninsula, along ...

. *8 April 2006 (reduced to 79) **Þórshafnarhreppur and Skeggjastaðahreppur merged to form

. *11 March 2006 (reduced to 80) **Áshreppur merged with

. **Hólmavíkurhreppur and Broddaneshreppur merged to form Strandabyggð. *20 February 2006 (reduced to 82) **Saurbæjarhreppur merged with

Dalabyggð Dalabyggð () is a municipality located in Dalasýsla, western Iceland. Its main settlement is Búðardalur. Dalabyggð is an agricultural area in the municipality which encompasses, the farm of Hvammur í Dölum where the poet, historian, an ...

. *11 February 2006 (reduced to 83) ** Gaulverjabæjarhreppur, Hraungerðishreppur, and Villingaholtshreppur merged to form Flóahreppur. *28 January 2006 (reduced to 85) ** Ólafsfjarðarbær and Siglufjarðarkaupstaður merged to form Fjallabyggð. *21 January 2006 (reduced to 86) ** Húsavíkurbær, Kelduneshreppur, Öxarfjarðarhreppur, and Raufarhafnarhreppur merged to form

Norðurþing Norðurþing () is a municipality located in northern Iceland. Norðurþing was formed in 2006 when the municipalities of Húsavík, Öxarfjörður, Raufarhöfn, and Kelduneshreppur were merged after special elections in January 2006 and the regi ...

. *10 January 2006 **Vatnsleysustrandarhreppur renamed into Vogar. *8 October 2005 (reduced to 89) **Mjóafjarðarhreppur, Fáskrúðsfjarðarhreppur, and Austurbyggð merged with

. *23 April 2005 (reduced to 92) **Borgarfjarðarsveit, Hvítársíðuhreppur, and Kolbeinsstaðahreppur merged with Borgarbyggð. *20 November 2004 (reduced to 95) **Bólstaðarhlíðarhreppur, Sveinsstaðarhreppur, Svínavatnshreppur, and Torfalækjarhreppur merged to form

. **Hvalfjarðarstrandarhreppur, Innri-Akraneshreppur, Leirár- og Melahreppur, and Skilmannahreppur merged to form

Hvalfjarðarsveit Hvalfjarðarsveit () is a municipality in Vesturland, Iceland. The municipality derives its name from the fjord Hvalfjörður, which forms its southern border. The municipality formed on 1 June 2006, by the union of the former municipalities of ...

. *1 November 2004 (reduced to 101) **Austur-Hérað, Fellahreppur, and Norður-Hérað merged to form Fljótsdalshérað. *1 August 2004 (reduced to 103) **Hríseyjarhreppur merged with Akureyrarkaupstaður. *17 June 2004 **Bessastaðahreppur renamed into

. *28 January 2004 **Gerðahreppur renamed into Garður. *10 May 2003 (reduced to 104) **Stöðvarhreppur and Búðahreppur merged to form Austurbyggð. *9 June 2002 (reduced to 105) **Kirkjubólshreppur merged with Hólmavíkurhreppur. *16 March 2002 (reduced to 106) **Holta- og Landsveit, Djúpárhreppur, and Rangárvallahreppur merged to form Rangárþing ytra. *12 March 2002 (reduced to 108) **Húsavíkurkaupstaður and Reykjahreppur merged to form Húsavíkurbær. *11 February 2002 (reduced to 109) **Þingvallahreppur, Laugardalshreppur, and Biskupstungnahreppur merged to form Bláskógabyggð. *21 January 2002 (reduced to 111) **Gnúpverjahreppur and Skeiðahreppur merged to form

Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur (, ) is a small municipality in south-central Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North A ...

*31 December 2001 (reduced to 112) **Vindhælishreppur merged with Skagabyggð. *20 November 2001 (reduced to 113) **Austur-Eyjafjallahreppur, Vestur-Eyjafjallahreppur, Austur-Landeyjahreppur, Vestur-Landeyjahreppur, Fljótshlíðarhreppur, and Hvolhreppur merged to form Rangárþing eystra. *15 November 2001 (reduced to 118) **Hálshreppur, Ljósavatnshreppur, Bárðdælahreppur, and Reykdælahreppur merged to form Þingeyjarsveit. *26 April 2001 (reduced to 121) **Engihlíðarhreppur merged with Blönduósbær. *1 January 2001 (reduced to 122) **Skriðuhreppur, Öxnadalshreppur, and Glæsibæjarhreppur merged to form Hörgárbyggð. *7 June 1998 (reduced to 124) **Kjalarneshreppur merged with Reykjavíkurborg. **Skriðdalshreppur, Vallahreppur, Egilsstaðabær, Eiðahreppur, and Hjaltastaðarhreppur merged to form Austur-Hérað. **Dalvíkurkaupstaður, Svarfaðardalshreppur, and Árskógshreppur merged to form

Dalvíkurbyggð Dalvíkurbyggð (, regionally also ) is a small municipality in northern Iceland. Dalvíkurbyggð is on Tröllaskagi and west of Eyjafjörður. History The municipality of Dalvíkurbyggð was formed in 1998 by the merger of three districts of oute ...

. **

Neskaupstaður Neskaupstaður () is a town located on the fjord Norðfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland, against the Norwegian Sea. It is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and, as of 2016, it has a population of 1,481. Neskaupstaður is the second ...

, Eskifjarðarkaupstaður and Reyðarfjarðarhreppur merged to form

. **Staðarhreppur, Fremri Torfustaðahreppur, Ytri Torfustaðahreppur, Hvammstangahreppur, Kirkjuhvammshreppur, Þverárhreppur, and Þorkelshólshreppur merged to form

. **Selfosskaupstaður, Stokkseyrarhreppur, Eyrarbakkahreppur, and Sandvíkurhreppur merged to form

Árborg Sveitarfélag ið Árborg () is a municipality in southern Iceland. It is the most populous in the region, with a population of 11,565 in 2024. Founded in 1998, its largest town is Selfoss. Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri are two communities on the ...

. **Lundarreykjardalshreppur, Reykholtsdalshreppur, Hálsahreppur, and Andakílshreppur merged to form Borgarfjarðarsveit. *6 June 1998 (reduced to 145) ** Sauðárkrókskaupstaður, Skefilsstaðahreppur, Skarðshreppur, Staðarhreppur, Seyluhreppur, Lýtingsstaðahreppur, Rípurhreppur, Viðvíkurhreppur, Hólahreppur, Hofshreppur, and Fljótahreppur merged to form

. **Bæjarhreppur, Borgarhafnarhreppur, Hofshreppur, and Hornafjarðarbær merged to form Hornafjörður. *1 June 1998 (reduced to 155) **Grímsneshreppur and Grafningshreppur merged to form Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur. *14 February 1998 (reduced to 158) **Þverárhlíðarhreppur, Borgarhreppur, and Álftaneshreppur merged with Borgarbyggð. *1 January 1998 (reduced to 161) **Skógarstrandarhreppur merged with

. *27 December 1997 (reduced to 163) **Hlíðarhreppur, Jökuldalshreppur, and Tunguhreppur merged to form Norður-Hérað. *1 June 1996 (reduced to 165) **Ísafjarðarkaupstaður, Þingeyrarhreppur, Mýrahreppur, Mosvallahreppur, Flateyrarhreppur, and Suðureyrarhreppur merged to form

Ísafjarðarbær Ísafjarðarbær () is a municipality of Iceland in the Westfjords region, created in 1996 from Flateyrarhreppur, Ísafjarðarkaupstaður, Mosvallahreppur, Mýrahreppur, Suðureyrarhreppur and Þingeyrarhreppur. Geography The principal settl ...

. *19 April 1995 (increased to 170) **Helgafellssveit split from Stykkishólmur. *1 January 1995 (reduced to 169) **Ögurhreppur and Reykjarfjarðarhreppur merged with Súðavíkurhreppur. *12 June 1994 (reduced to 171) **Höfn, Nesjahreppur, and Mýrahreppur merged to form Hornafjarðarbær. *11 June 1994 (reduced to 173) **Suðurdalahreppur, Haukadalshreppur, Laxárdalshreppur, Hvammshreppur, Fellsstrandarhreppur, and Skarðshreppur merged to form

. **Staðarsveit, Breiðuvíkurhreppur, Neshreppur utan Ennis, and Ólafsvíkurbær merged to form Snæfellsbær. **Hafnahreppur, Keflavíkurbær, and Njarðvíkurbær merged to form Reykjanesbær. **Norðfjarðarhreppur merged with

. **Barðastrandarhreppur, Rauðasandshreppur, Patrekshreppur, and Bíldudalshreppur merged to form

. **Sauðaneshreppur merged with Þórshafnarhreppur. **Norðurárdalshreppur, Stafholtstungnahreppur, Borgarnesbær, and Hraunhreppur merged to form Borgarbyggð. **Eyjarhreppur and Miklaholtshreppur merged to form Eyja- og Miklaholtshreppur. **Nauteyrarhreppur í Norður-Ísafjarðarsýslu and Hólmavíkurhreppur í Strandasýslu merged to form Hólmavíkurhreppur. **Snæfjallahreppur í Norður-Ísafjarðarsýslu merged with Ísafjarðarkaupstaður. **Helgafellssveit merged with Stykkishólmur. *1 January 1994 (reduced to 195) **Fjallahreppur merged with Öxarfjarðarhreppur. *1 July 1993 (reduced to 196) **Landmannahreppur and Holtahreppur merged to form Holta- og Landsveit. *1 October 1992 (reduced to 197) **Beruneshreppur, Búlandshreppur, and Geithellnahreppur merged to form Djúpavogshreppur. *1 January 1992 (reduced to 199) **Hörðudalshreppur merged with Miðdalahreppur to form Suðurdalahreppur. **Fellshreppur í Strandasýslu merged with Óspakseyrarhreppur to form Broddaneshreppur. *17 February 1991 (reduced to 201) **Presthólahreppur merged with Öxarfjarðarhreppur. *1 January 1991 (reduced to 202) **Hrafnagilshreppur, Saurbæjarhreppur, and Öngulsstaðahreppur merged to form Eyjafjarðarsveit. *10 June 1990 (reduced to 204) **Hofsóshreppur and Fellshreppur merged with Hofshreppur. **Hörglandshreppur, Kirkjubæjarhreppur, Skaftártunguhreppur, Leiðvallahreppur, and Álftavershreppur merged to form Skaftárhreppur. *1 April 1990 (reduced to 210) **Fróðárhreppur merged with Ólafsvíkurkaupstaður. **Auðkúluhreppur merged with Þingeyrarhreppur. **Seyðisfjarðarhreppur merged with Seyðisfjarðarkaupstaður. *1 January 1989 (reduced to 213) **Selvogshreppur merged with

Ölfus Ölfus () is a municipality located in Iceland. The major town is called Þorlákshöfn. The bottled water brand Icelandic Glacial is manufactured in this area, at the Ölfus spring. Geography In Ölfus several lava tubes can be visited. ''Raufa ...

hreppur. *1 April 1988 (reduced to 214) ** Haganeshreppur merged with Holtshreppur to form Fljótahreppur. *1 January 1988 (reduced to 215) **Helgustaðahreppur merged with Eskifjarðarkaupstaður. *4 July 1987 (reduced to 216) **Geiradalshreppur, Gufudalshreppur, Múlahreppur, and Flateyjarhreppur merged with Reykhólahreppur. *1 July 1987 (reduced to 220) **Ketildalahreppur merged with Suðurfjarðarhreppur to form Bíldudalshreppur. *1 January 1987 (reduced to 221) **Hrófbergshreppur merged with Hólmavíkurhreppur. *30 July 1986 (reduced to 222) **Klofningshreppur merged with Fellsstrandarhreppur. *1984 (reduced to 223) **Dyrhólahreppur merged with Hvammshreppur to form Mýrdalshreppur. *1972 (reduced to 224) **Flateyjarhreppur merged with Hálshreppur. ** Loðmundarfjarðarhreppur merged with Borgarfjarðarhreppur. *1971 (reduced to 226) ** Eyrarhreppur merged with Ísafjarðarkaupstaður. *1 January 1964 (reduced to 227) **Grunnavíkurhreppur merged with Snæfjallahreppur. *1953 (229 municipalities reduced to 228) **Sléttuhreppur is deserted and included in Ísafjarðarkaupstaður, but not officially merged until 1995.

References

External links

Maps of the municipalities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipalities Of Iceland

Iceland, Municipalities Iceland 2 Municipalities, Iceland Iceland geography-related lists

History

Government

List of municipalities

History

See also

References

External links