Information for students about Kópavogur

 

 

 

 

Kópavogur (Icelandic pronunciation: ​[ˈkʰɔuːpaˌvɔːɣʏr̥]) is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population.

It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region. The name literally means seal pup inlet. The town seal contains the profile of the church Kópavogskirkja with a seal pup underneath.

Kópavogur is largely made up of residential areas, but has commercial areas and much industrial activity as well. The tallest building in Iceland, the Smáratorg Tower, is located in central Kópavogur.

 

Kópavogur is historically significant as the site of the 1662 Kópavogur meeting.^[3] This event marked the total incorporation of Iceland into Denmark-Norway when, on behalf of the Icelandic people, Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson and Árni Oddsson, a lawyer, signed a document confirming that the introduction of absolute monarchy by Frederick III of Denmark-Norway also applied to Iceland.

Kópavogur is also one of Iceland's most prominent sites for Icelandic urban legends about the huldufólk;^[4] it also features in this capacity in the 2010 film Sumarlandið, where the stone Grásteinn is portrayed as an elf-house in the Kópavogur municipality.

An independent township, Kópavogur is adjacent to Reykjavík.

Kópavogur is twinned with:

·          Ammassalik, Greenland

·          Klaksvík, Faroe Islands

·          Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland

·          Norrköping, Sweden

·          Odense, Denmark

·          Tampere, Finland

·          Trondheim, Norway

·          Wuhan, China

 

 

Kópavogur
Municipality
Skyline of Kópavogur
Coat of arms
Location of Kópavogur
Country	Iceland
Region	Capital Region
Constituency	Southwest Constituency
Established	1948
Market right	11 May 1955
Government
• Mayor	Ármann Kristinn Ólafsson (IP)
Area
• Total	80 km2 (30 sq mi)
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	37,959
• Density	462.19/km2 (1,197.1/sq mi)
Postal code(s)	200–203
Municipal number	1000
Website	kopavogur.is (in Iceland