Reykjavík is Iceland’s capital and is widely recognized as the world’s northernmost national capital.
The city lies on Iceland’s southwestern coast at about 64 degrees north. Its location gives it long summer daylight and very short winter daylight, although ocean currents make its climate milder than its latitude might suggest.
According to Icelandic tradition, Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler in Iceland and named the area Reykjavík, meaning “smoky bay,” because of steam rising from nearby geothermal springs. Reykjavík became Iceland’s capital in 1918, when Iceland gained sovereignty as a kingdom in personal union with Denmark.
Nuuk is farther north, but Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark rather than an independent sovereign state. Tórshavn is also a capital in the North Atlantic, but the Faroe Islands likewise are self-governing under Danish sovereignty.