Seltjarnarnes

Seltjarnarnes (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsɛlˌtʰja(r)tnarˌnɛːs] ^ⓘ) is a town and municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. The municipality is located on a peninsula, bordered only by Reykjavík to the east.

Seltjarnarnes
Municipality
Seltjarnarnes
Coat of arms
Location of the municipality
Seltjarnarnes
Coordinates: 64°9′15″N 22°0′0″W
Country	Iceland
Region	Capital Region
Constituency	Southwest Constituency
Market right	20 April 1974
Government
• Mayor	Þór Sigurgeirsson (IP)
Area [1]
• Total	2 km2 (0.8 sq mi)
Population  (2025)[2]
• Total	4,585
• Density	2,300/km2 (5,900/sq mi)
Postal code(s)	170–172
Municipal number	1100
Website	seltjarnarnes.is (in Icelandic)

Nesstofa during the winter 2019–2020.

It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic township by land. The municipality's small land size relative to its population makes it Iceland's most densely populated municipality.

Overview

Grótta, a tied island that becomes an island during high tide.

There are two schools in Seltjarnarnes, Mýrarhúsaskóli and Valhúsaskóli.

The Independence Party has had an overall control in the town's council since proper elections started in 1962. First Lady of Iceland Guðrún Katrín Þorbergsdóttir held a position in the city council for 16 years. In the last elections in 2014, the party received 52,6% of the votes and 4 out of 7 members of the council. Other parties represented in the town council are Samfylkingin with 2 members and Neslistinn with one member. The mayor is Ásgerður Halldórsdóttir.

Seltjarnarnes became the world's first town where every citizen had access to fiber optics in 2007.^[3]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1901 491 —     1910 440 −10.4% 1920 440 +0.0% 1930 1,062 +141.4% 1940 627 −41.0% 1950 686 +9.4% 1960 1,310 +91.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1970 2,153 +64.4% 1980 3,100 +44.0% 1990 4,143 +33.6% 2000 4,665 +12.6% 2010 4,395 −5.8% 2020 4,593 +4.5%
Source: Statistics Iceland[4][5]

Sports

The local football team Grótta play in Iceland's first level division. Grótta's handball teams play in Iceland's top division. Grótta's women's team were Icelandic champions in 2015 and 2016. Grótta also has gymnastics and weight-lifting.^[6]

Notable people

• Jon von Tetzchner, founder of Opera and Vivaldi web browsers.^[7]
• Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, lawyer, actress and Miss World 2005.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Iceland

Seltjarnarnes is twinned with:^[8]

• Lieto, Finland
• Nesodden, Norway
• Herlev, Denmark
• Höganäs, Sweden