Kópavogur () is a town in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

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.

History

Kópavogur is historically significant as the site of the 1662 Kópavogur meeting. This event marked the total incorporation of Iceland into

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

when, on behalf of the Icelandic people,

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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; 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.

Sports

Kópavogur's main sports clubs are Gerpla, Breiðablik and HK. In 2010, Breiðablik clinched their first Icelandic league title in football into; furthermore, in 2012, HK won their first Icelandic league title in team handball. The town is also home to the hardcore strongman and

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

training facility 'Thor's Power Gym' owned by the strongest man of all-time Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, which was also the venue for the iconic 501 kg (1,105 lb) World Record

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

on 2 May 2020.

Notable people

* Diljá (born 2001), singer * Eiður Guðjohnsen (born 1978), footballer *

Emilíana Torrini Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. Her works include the 2009 single "Jungle Drum (song), Jungle Drum" and the 1999 album ''Love in the Time of Science''. She performed "Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film ' ...

(born 1977), singer * Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (born 1988), professional strongman * Hálfdán Helgi Matthíasson (born 2003), musical artist as part of Væb * Matthías Davíð Matthíasson (born 2004), musical artist as part of Væb * Sverrir Ingi Ingason (born 1993), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Kópavogur is twinned with: * Ammassalik, Greenland * Klaksvík, Faroe Islands * Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland *

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

, Sweden *

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

, Denmark *

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

, Finland *

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, Norway *

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, China

Gallery

File:Buses in Kopavogur.JPG, Public buses in Kópavogur File:Kópavogsvöllur.JPG, Kópavogsvöllur stadium File:Strokkur 0.jpg, Artificial geyser, Kópavogur in the background. File:Fossvogsdalur - Pond in the Park (5005578504).jpg, Pond in the park File:Kópavogskirkja 2.JPG, Kópavogur church File:S5020844.jpg, Smáratorg Tower, the tallest building in Iceland.

References

External links

*
Official website
Municipalities of Iceland Populated places in Capital Region (Iceland) Southwest Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub