Straits and fjords of the Faroe Islands

The straits and fjords of the Faroe Islands form most of the coastal waters of the archipelago with its 18 islands and 11 islets .

Terminology

Fjord is called fjørður in Faroese , but not every Faroese fjørður is actually a fjord. Many so-called fjords are actually straits. The Faroese mean the broader straits, while the narrow Sund (the Faroese word is synonymous with the German) are called. These sounds have particularly strong currents, but the wider straits are also sometimes dangerous fairways.

Also, not every fjord has the name fjørður in its name, some are also called vík , which means bay . There is no recognizable system when looking at the map.

Fjords

The longest fjord in the Faroe Islands is Skálafjørður , about 14 kilometers long , which cuts the island of Eysturoy deep from south to northwest.

Real fjords, which are also called that, are:

• Árnafjørður (place of the same name)
• Fuglafjørður (place of the same name)
• Funningsfjørður (place of the same name)
• Hovsfjørður ( Hov )
• Hvalbiarfjørður ( Hvalba )
• Kaldbaksfjørður ( Kaldbak )
• Kollafjørður (place of the same name)
• Lopransfjørður ( Lopra )
• Oyndarfjørður (place of the same name)
• Skálafjørður ( Skáli )
• Sørvágsfjørður ( Sørvágur )
• Trongisvágsfjørður ( Trongisvágur )
• Vágsfjørður ( Vágur )

Real fjords with the ending -vík "bay":

• Borðoyarvík (in the south of Borðoy )
• Lambavík ( Lambi )
• Viðvík (in the east of Viðoy )

Straits

The widest strait in the Faroe Islands is Suðuroyarfjørður , which separates the south island of Suðuroy from the rest of the archipelago. The longest strait, on the other hand, is the Sundini between the main island of Streymoy and the east island of Eysturoy .

The most important isogloss of the Faroese language is the Skopunarfjørður between Sandoy and Streymoy.

Straits marked -fjørður are:

• Dímunarfjørður between Stóra Dímun and Skúvoy
• Fugloyarfjørður between Svínoy and Fugloy
• Hestsfjørður between Hestur , Koltur and Streymoy
• Kalsoyarfjørður between Kalsoy and Kunoy
• Leirvíksfjørður between Eysturoy and Kalsoy
• Mykinesfjørður between Vágar and Mykines
• Nólsoyarfjørður between Streymoy and Nólsoy
• Skopunarfjørður between Sandoy and Hestur
• Skúvoyarfjørður between Skúvoy and Sandoy
• Suðuroyarfjørður between Suðuroy and Lítla Dímun and Stóra Dímun
• Svínoyarfjørður between Viðoy and Svínoy
• Tangafjørður between Streymoy and Eysturoy

Straits marked -sund :

• Haraldssund between Kunoy and Borðoy (place of the same name)
• Hvannasund between Borðoy and Viðoy (place of the same name)
• Kolturssund between Hestur and Koltur
• Sundini between Streymoy and Eysturoy
• Vestmannasund between Vágar and Streymoy