North islands
The North Islands ( Faroese : Norðuroyggjar , Norðoyggjar or Norðoyar , Danish : Norderøerne ) denote a region of the Faroe Islands consisting of six islands ; they form a so-called Syssel (police circle), of which there are a total of six in the Faroe Islands.
The region consists of the six islands Borðoy , Fugloy , Kalsoy , Kunoy , Svínoy and Viðoy . Together they have an area of 241 square kilometers and are therefore the third largest region in the Faroe Islands after Streymoy and Eysturoy , followed by Vágar , Suðuroy and Sandoy .
The center and capital of the North Islands is the city of Klaksvík , a center of the fishing industry. Along with the capital Tórshavn, the city is the second island metropolis of the Faroe Islands and forms its own region. Most of the 6011 population of the North Islands is concentrated in the Klaksvík region, namely 5293 people; in the rest of the North Islands live a total of 718 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2003).
In sum, the North Islands have most of the highest mountains and cliffs in the archipelago. Seven of the ten mountain peaks over 800 meters high on the Faroe Islands are located here. Imposing natural spectacles such as the 754-meter-sloping Enniberg cliff with its bird colonies can be found here. The sunsets on Viðoy are also famous.
However, the bird paradise on the North Islands suffered a severe setback from the rats that were introduced there at the end of the 19th century. While rats first spread to the four large islands of Suðuroy, Streymoy, Vágar and Eysturoy in the second half of the 18th century, the six northern islands were initially spared. However, with the construction of the whaling station in Norðdepil at the end of the 19th century, the first rats came to the island of Borðoy. Then these spread from there to Viðoy and Kunoy until the First World War. Of the northern islands, only Fugloy, Svínoy and Kalsoy have been able to survive as rat-free bird paradises.
The towns of Borðoy, Kunoy and Viðoy are connected by a system of dams and tunnels, while ferries run to Kalsoy, Fugloy and Svínoy (see map). In 2006 the North Island Tunnel (Norðoyatunnilin) was opened, with 6.2 km the longest tunnel in the Faroe Islands to date . It connects Klaksvík with Leirvík on Eysturoy and thus the entire region of the North Islands with the west of the Faroe Islands.
The six north islands in pictures
The six northern islands - Kalsoy, Kunoy, Borðoy, Viðoy, Svínoy and Fugloy - on a 1999 stamp set:
Kalsoy
Kunoy
Borðoy
Viðoy
Svínoy
Fugloy
Web links
- Vælkomin til Norðoyggjar , Norðoya kunningarstova (in Faroese)
- Welcome to The Northern Islands , visitnordoy.fo (in English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Norðoyggjar , obg.fo
- ↑ Rottan hóttir heimsins størsta drunnhvítabøli, og vit hava ábyrgdina , hav.fo