Iceland Municipalities

Iceland keeps merging its municipalities. There were over two hundred in the 1990s, and the maps that most quizzes still use stop at 74 or 69. After the latest mergers there are 61, and this game draws those: Skorradalshreppur, the last to go, now belongs to Borgarbyggð.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The eight regions, the same ones as the regions quiz
In the game: 61 municipalities

Start

What you are looking at

The 61 sveitarfélög, the only level of local government Iceland has. They run from Reykjavík, with a third of the country in it, down to farming communities of a few hundred people, and a municipality is usually named for what it holds: a -byggð is a settlement, a -sveit a rural district, a -hreppur an old commune, a -bær a town.

Most of the interior is empty, so the map is really a ring around the coast. The municipalities are grouped into the eight regions Statistics Iceland reports on, which is how the game lets you drill them a region at a time. The local name is a switch in the start dialog, and it shows the official form: Reykjavíkurborg for Reykjavík, Akureyrarbær for Akureyri.

How to place one

Start with the capital cluster. Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Seltjarnarnes and Mosfellsbær run into each other in the south west corner, and they are the reason several get a tap area.
Follow the ring road. The big rural municipalities of the south, the east and the north come one after another along it, and the north east is where the names are longest.
Count the Westfjords. Eight municipalities share the arm, and Ísafjarðarbær is the one with the town.
Leave the islands for last. Vestmannaeyjar is a municipality of its own off the south coast, and Grímsey belongs to Akureyri.

Every municipality, by region

Capital Region7 municipalities: Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Kjósarhreppur, Kópavogur, Mosfellsbær, Reykjavík, Seltjarnarnes
Southern Peninsula4 municipalities: Grindavík, Reykjanesbær, Suðurnesjabær, Vogar
Western Region8 municipalities: Akranes, Borgarbyggð, Dalabyggð, Eyja- og Miklaholtshreppur, Grundarfjörður, Hvalfjarðarsveit, Snæfellsbær, Stykkishólmur
Westfjords8 municipalities: Árneshreppur, Bolungarvík, Ísafjarðarbær, Kaldrananeshreppur, Reykhólahreppur, Strandabyggð, Súðavíkurhreppur, Vesturbyggð
Northwestern Region4 municipalities: Húnabyggð, Húnaþing vestra, Skagafjörður, Skagaströnd
Northeastern Region11 municipalities: Akureyri, Dalvíkurbyggð, Eyjafjarðarsveit, Fjallabyggð, Grýtubakkahreppur, Hörgársveit, Langanesbyggð, Norðurþing, Svalbarðsstrandarhreppur, Þingeyjarsveit, Tjörneshreppur
Eastern Region5 municipalities: Fjarðabyggð, Fljótsdalshreppur, Hornafjörður, Múlaþing, Vopnafjarðarhreppur
Southern Region14 municipalities: Árborg, Ásahreppur, Bláskógabyggð, Flóahreppur, Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur, Hrunamannahreppur, Hveragerði, Mýrdalshreppur, Ölfus, Rangárþing eystra, Rangárþing ytra, Skaftárhreppur, Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur, Vestmannaeyjar

Worked examples

Múlaþing

The biggest of them

Múlaþing was formed in 2020 from four eastern municipalities, and is the largest of the 61 by area. It runs from the northern coast of the east down toward the glacier, with Fjarðabyggð and its fjord towns set into its south east side.

Seltjarnarnes

The one on the tip

Seltjarnarnes is a small town at the end of the peninsula Reykjavík sits on, surrounded by the capital on every side but the sea. At the size the whole island fits it is a few pixels wide, which is why the game gives it a tap area.

Vestmannaeyjar

The one offshore

Vestmannaeyjar is the Westman Islands, off the south coast. The town on Heimaey was evacuated in the 1973 eruption, and the island is a municipality of its own.

Frequently asked questions

How many municipalities does Iceland have?

61, after the mergers of recent years. Older maps show 74 or 69, and the number keeps falling, so a map from a few years ago will not match.

Are the regions a level of government?

No. The eight regions are the areas Statistics Iceland reports on, which is why the game uses them as groups rather than as a quiz of their own. The regions have a quiz of their own, linked below.

For the tier above this one, see Iceland Regions.