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Government and Business in Reykjavik
Government and Business in Reykjavik
Reykjavik is governed by a City Council, which appoints the mayor, who serves as the city's top public official and director of city operations. The City Council may appoint one of its own members as mayor or hire someone who is not a member of the Council.
In this, the most literate country in the world, Icelanders have a strong craving for reading material. Part of this craving is unquestionably due to the fact that the people receive only four hours of daylight during the depth of winter, yet the nights are almost as bright as the days in mid-summer. Reykjavik has six daily newspapers, over 50 publishing houses, and some 40 bookshops. There are two television stations and six radio stations, two of which are run by the state, and the City Library has six branches plus a mobile unit that serves 40 locations in and around the city.
Foreign newspapers are sold in most bookstores. The news is broadcast in English over State Radio FM 93.5 at 7 am, Monday through Friday, between June 1 and September 1. A telephone recording of the broadcast can be heard by dialing 515-3690.
The US Embassy, 562-9100, is at 21 Laufasvegur in Reykjavik, and is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. Side-by-side on Austurvollur Square are three historic buildings, the Cabinet House, the Althing, and an old cathedral that was built in 1796.
The Cabinet House (Stjornarrad) was built between 1765 and 1770 to serve the needs of the unemployed who could be employed by the pioneer woolen industries. The Danish government, which was then ruling Iceland, decided to use it instead as a prison, which it did until 1816. Later, it was reconstructed to serve as the home and office of a new Danish governor, and today it is the home and office of Iceland=s Prime Minister. A statue in front shows King Christian IX of Denmark handing over the constitution in 1874 and another depicts Hannes Hafstein, who became Iceland=s first minister in 1904. Both statues are the work of sculptor Einar Jonsson.
Althingishusid, the house of Parliament, was built in 1880, constructed of blocks hewn from gray basaltic rock (dolerite). For a time, the National Library, National Archives, and National Museum were housed there, as was the University from its beginning in 1911 until 1940, when its main building was finished. Between 1941 and 1944, when Iceland proclaimed its independence, the Danish governor=s office was there.
Reykjavik has two harbors. The "Old Harbour," which is the first permanent harbor in Iceland, was built between 1913 and 1917 on the Reykjavik Cove. In 1780, the Danish trading monopoly was moved to Reykjavik from Orfirisey, a spit of land not far distant, and during the 19th century, the merchants built their own small, short piers as extensions from the warehouses along the cove. In 1884, the city built the Stone Pier.
In 1911, the town council agreed to build a new harbor, and the work started in 1913. Two locomotives were used to transport building materials to the construction site, and the first ship was docked in 1915. A marina was finished in 2003.
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