Reykjavik, Iceland: The Most Inspiring Place on Earth?

Reykjavik is believed to be the first permanent settlement in Iceland. The 200,000 some odd residents in and around the city make up a rich culture teeming with arts and inspiring ambiance. It could be Iceland's exotic landscape that extends into the Arctic circle that makes for such a creative country, or the nature loving people who've made Reykjavik a self-sufficient green city fit with public transportation, great welfare and better health-care. It could be how Reykjavik receives only 4 hours of daylight in winter, or how the summer nights are bright as day. Whatever the case may be, Reykjavik is producing amazing musicians, thinkers and artists like it's never been done before.

The city seems to serve as a perfect haven for creative prosperity. A slew of popular musicians call Reykjavik home including Bjork, Sigur Ros, Quarashi, Seabear and Mugison. Seabear was recently featured on the motion picture The Science of Sleep and a Sigur Ros song can be heard during the epic 'Jaguar Shark' scene in Wes Anderson's film The Life Aquatic.

Two -four time 'strongest man in the world winners' live in Reykjavik along with Nobel Prize winning writer Halldor Kiljan Laxness. Other successful writers, film producers and artists call this beautiful place home- and for one reason or another- so does Chess champion Bobby Fischer. It's also no wonder Reykjavik has been often called "the nightlife capital of the north", breathing with music venues, late night bars and local celebrities on every corner. Icelandic people follow a close Nordic and Celtic genealogy that was actively nocturnal, so it's not uncommon to find bars open until 6am.

Reykjavik used to be, and still is, a geographer's paradise. The terrain used to be covered in an ice age glacier and when it receded, left behind a complex habitat fit with dormant volcanoes, crystal clear rivers and foggy plains. Since Iceland is in a temperate part of the north, temperatures do not usually dip too low- making Reykjavik a comfortable environment all year. And they plan to keep it that way. Constant environmental initiatives continue to keep Reykjavik's air clean and it's industry cleaner.

Reykjavik is home to dozens of annual and seasonal events including the Reykjavik Culture Night and the Reykjavik Arts Festival. Thousands show up every year to attend events like these and many others that are sprouting across Iceland. Every year more and more artists spring from these festivals offering brilliant glimpses into life that the whole world responds to.

The most northern capital in the world is the home of the auroras, glowing lakes and waters, intriguing scenery and engaging people. Reykjavik is a staple metropolis for the future that miraculously balances civic duties, environmental concerns, artistic progression and simple good times. With such vivid cultural tethers, creative success and rich growth- the metropolis may be the creative epicenter of the world, but even if it's not, Reykjavik is still an awe evoking place sure to bring out the imagination in anybody.