Reykjavik

placed in the category: Cities

Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland, and at the same time, the largest city in the country. It is located at the Southwestern shore of Iceland, and it is the world's most northern national capital. Being the most populated city in the country, it is the centre of governmental and economic activities.

The city started out to be just an official trading town in 1786, and then it steadily grew for the next decades. Later on, the city started to grow to a regional, and finally a national centre of commerce and governmental activities. Reykjavik is believed to be the first area in Iceland where people first lived and settled.

Nowadays, the city is the centre of the Greater Reykjavik Area, being Iceland's only metropolitan area. The inhabitants of this city enjoy a first-class welfare system, being a highly modernized capital of a developed country.

The first people who settled in the area were the Norsemen, led by Ingoflur Amarson back in AD 870, as narrated in the Book of Settlement or the Landahambok. It is said that the way he decided the site of settlement was through a traditional Viking method. The name Reykjavik was inspired by steam coming from the hot springs around the region. The name Reykjavik can somehow be translated to "Bay of Smokes."

Famous for its weekend nightlife, Reykjavik is known to be the nightlife capital of the north. People have a tendency to leave their houses very late at night that the bars and the streets are empty at one point, and then suddenly fill up with people after a while. The main reason behind this is that the cost of the alcohol at the bars is rather expensive, that's why many people start drinking even before leaving the house. Beer used to be banned in Iceland until 1989, but this has been the drink of choice for many of the people who live there.

The most celebrated holiday here is New Year because the people think that celebrating the New Year is a very significant event. Many kinds of wireworks are even told during that season.