The world's northernmost capital, powered almost entirely by volcanoes
A small, colorful capital where nearly 100% of electricity and heating comes from geothermal and hydropower — Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, meaning the same volcanic activity that occasionally closes airspace also heats every home in the city for free.
Settled by Norse explorer Ingólfur Arnarson around 874 CE — according to saga tradition, he threw his high seat pillars into the sea and built wherever they washed ashore — Reykjavik stayed a small trading post for nearly a thousand years before becoming Iceland's capital when home rule began in 1918. Full independence from Denmark came in 1944.