Iceland Map with Regions

Iceland has 8 regions: the Capital Region, Southern Peninsula, West Iceland, Westfjords, Northwest Iceland, Northeast Iceland, East Iceland and South Iceland. The map on this page shows 9 units, one more than the official figure, because Reykjavík is drawn as its own shape apart from the rest of the Capital Region. The regions serve statistical purposes. They collect census, tourism and labour figures, but they do not elect assemblies or levy taxes. Local government in Iceland sits with the municipalities, which merge and change far more often than the eight regional boundaries do.

South Iceland (Suðurland) is the largest of Iceland's regions at 30,983 km² (11,967 sq mi), stretching from the coastal lowlands around Selfoss and Vík inland toward the Highlands. It contains the waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, black-sand beaches and large glaciated areas, which makes it one of the most visited parts of the country. The Southern Peninsula, at 813 km² (314 sq mi), sits at the other end of the range. On a choropleth map the size difference matters: South Iceland dominates the frame visually even when its value is modest, so a legend and clear labels help readers.

The Capital Region (Höfuðborgarsvæðið) is the most populous region of Iceland with 249,054 residents (2025). It contains Reykjavík, the capital and the country's main cultural and economic center, along with the neighbouring municipalities that ring the city. Landmarks there include Hallgrímskirkja and the Harpa Concert Hall. No other region comes close: the Westfjords, at the opposite extreme, has 7,176 people (2025). Akureyri in Northeast Iceland and Reykjanesbær on the Southern Peninsula are the largest towns outside the capital area. Because population is so concentrated, per-capita indicators usually read very differently from raw totals when you map them.

The Westfjords (Vestfirðir) is the least populous region of Iceland, with 7,176 residents (2025), and it is also the most sparsely settled by area. Ísafjörður is the main service town. The peninsula's coastline is cut by long, deep fjords, which lengthens road journeys and keeps settlements small and scattered. Dynjandi waterfall and the Látrabjarg bird cliffs are both here. When you shade Icelandic regions by totals, the Westfjords almost always sits at the pale end of the scale, so rates per 1,000 inhabitants often tell a more useful story for this region than counts.

Reykjavík is not a separate region in Iceland's official statistics. It is a municipality inside the Capital Region, which had 249,054 inhabitants in 2025 and also covers Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður and the other neighbouring municipalities. Many map datasets, including the one used here, still outline Reykjavík on its own, which is why this page shows 9 shapes rather than 8. If you are joining data by name, check whether your source reports figures for Reykjavík the city or for the whole Capital Region. Mixing the two produces totals that will not reconcile with national statistics.

Iceland's 8 regions are statistical divisions, not administrative ones. They have no regional parliament, governor or budget. Municipalities are the country's real local government tier, running schools, planning and social services, and they are the units that merge or split over time. The regions exist so that population, employment, tourism and economic data can be reported at a level between the municipality and the state. That is also why regional boundaries change rarely: they follow groupings of municipalities. For most reporting and mapping work, the eight regions remain the standard sub-national breakdown for Iceland.

Maps of Iceland showing 7 regions usually come from travel guides, which merge the statistical units into broader geographical areas, often folding the Southern Peninsula into South Iceland or combining Northwest and Northeast Iceland into a single north. The official statistical framework uses 8 regions. Some guides go further and add a separate Highlands area, producing yet another count. This page displays 9 shapes, since Reykjavík is drawn apart from the rest of the Capital Region. Before you plot data, confirm which scheme your source used; the region names look similar across all of them but the areas covered differ.

Iceland's best-known landmarks spread across all the regions. Hallgrímskirkja and Harpa stand in the Capital Region. West Iceland holds Snæfellsjökull National Park and the peak Kirkjufell. Dynjandi waterfall and the Látrabjarg cliffs are in the Westfjords. Northeast Iceland has Lake Mývatn, Goðafoss, Dettifoss and Ásbyrgi canyon. Stuðlagil canyon and the Vök Baths are in East Iceland, near Egilsstaðir. South Iceland covers Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss along with the black-sand coast around Vík. Marking these as pins on top of a shaded regional map gives readers a reference point for where each figure applies.

The whole process happens on the Ultimaps website; nothing is downloaded first and no account step gets in the way. Start from your data if you have it: a table of nine numbers, one per shape, becomes a shaded Iceland map as soon as it is imported. Without data, individual regions — the Westfjords alone, for instance — can simply be clicked and recolored. Palette, background, label wording, typeface and outline weight are set independently. Pins mark cities — Reykjavík, Akureyri, Ísafjörður or any coordinates you choose — and each can carry a caption. Three file formats are offered at export: PNG, PDF and SVG.