Northernmost and Southernmost World Capitals

Twelve Mile Circle likes to deal with the extremes in geography. So the current topic continues with that theme, the national capitals that are closest to the north and south poles.


Northernmost

The title for northernmost national capital goes to Reykjavík, Iceland, at 64 degrees north. That’s just a couple of degrees short of the Arctic Circle!

Located on Faxaflói Bay, Reykjavík is home to about a hundred thousand people. Another hundred thousand or so live in its greater metropolitan area. That’s a remarkable achievement considering that there are only about three hundred thousand people in all of Iceland.

Tjörn in Reykjavík. Photo by howderfamily.com

I took this photograph at Tjörn (which means literally “the pond”) in central Reykjavík a few years ago. In spite of its size, the city is quite cosmopolitan with abundant nightlife and activity. Tjörn provides a quiet respite in the middle of an urban setting.

It easy to use Reykjavík as a launching point for experiencing much of Iceland’s abundant natural wonders. For example, the rainbows of Fjallabak Nature Reserve or the rhyolite peaks, glacial rivers and geothermal hot streams of Landmannalaugar (in case you want so see a couple more photos).

[EDITOR’S NOTE: With Greenland’s additional autonomy from Denmark and increasing self rule beginning in 2009, it’s capital city Nuuk is now considered by many to be the northernmost capital city (map)]


Southernmost

The city and the sea. Photo by Pedro; (CC BY 2.0)

On the other side of the planet sits Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand at 41 degrees south. It rests at the southern tip of North Island along Cook Strait, at about the country’s midpoint. It houses about two hundred thousand people and about double that within its larger metropolitan area.

New Zealand has a population of about four million so Wellington is an important city. However it doesn’t dominate the nation as does Reykjavík for Iceland. In fact Wellington isn’t even New Zealand’s largest city (that distinction goes to Auckland).

Because Wellington is hemmed-in by its harbour and nearby hills, it doesn’t have much room to expand. So it makes up for that by having a greater population density than anywhere else in the country.

I haven’t been to New Zealand although maybe someday I’ll be able to make that journey. For now, you can visit with the newest page in my continuing series on world ferries: the Interactive Map of New Zealand Ferries.

[EDITOR’S NOTE:  I finally made it to New Zealand in 2018]

Comments

2 responses to “Northernmost and Southernmost World Capitals”

  1. northern most capital city is nuuk in greenland a few kilometres north of reykjavikss Avatar

    nuuk is the capital of greenland and is a few kilometres north of reykjavik

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      Good point. When the article was posted in 2008 it was correct. Subsequent to that, in June 2009, Greenland became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark with Nuuk ever so slightly edging-out Reykjavík to claim the title.

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