🇮🇸 Iceland
Reykjavik
Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland and the world's northernmost national capital (64°08'N) — a city of 135,000 people (half of Iceland's total population of 370,000) in a country that is simultaneously the most volcanic, the most geothermally active, the most populated Nordic nation per square kilometre of habitable land, and the nation that reads the most books per capita in the world (Iceland has the highest book publication rate per capita globally: one book per 10 inhabitants per year). Iceland was settled by Norse Vikings between 870-930 AD (the Settlement Exhibition museum in Reykjavik's city centre is built around the original Viking longhouse foundations discovered in 2001 beneath the city centre); the Alþing (Althing), the world's oldest existing parliament, was founded at Þingvellir (Thingvellir, 50 km east of Reykjavik) in 930 AD. The defining Reykjavik experiences are geological: the city is powered almost entirely by geothermal energy (with a negligible carbon footprint — 99% of electricity from hydropower and geothermal, and all hot water from geothermal springs); the Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lónið, the iconic geothermal spa 40 km south of the city, with its milky-blue silica-rich water at 37-40°C in the middle of a black lava field) is the most-visited attraction in Iceland (with 800,000 visitors per year before pre-booking was made mandatory); the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis, visible from Reykjavik and its surroundings from September to March when skies are clear); the Midnight Sun (June-July, when the sun does not set and the city is bathed in golden horizontal light from midnight to 2 am); and the Golden Circle day trip (Þingvellir National Park UNESCO, Geysir geothermal area with Strokkur erupting every 7 minutes, and Gullfoss waterfall).