Kunoy (meaning ''Woman island'', is an island located in the north-east of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

between

Kalsoy Kalsoy ( da, Kalsø) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands of Denmark between Eysturoy and Kunoy. The name means man island; by contrast with the parallel island to the east, Kunoy, the name of which means woman island. The northernm ...

to the west (with which there is no physical link) and

Borðoy Borðoy ( da, Bordø) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands. Its name means 'headland island'. There are eight settlements: Klaksvík (the second largest town in the Faroes), Norðoyri, Ánir, Árnafjørður, Strond, Norðtoftir, ...

to the east (to which it is linked via a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet ...

Settlements and transport

There are two settlements on Kunoy: Kunoy (population 64), on the west coast and Haraldssund on the south-east coast. These have been connected by a tunnel since 1988. Haraldssund is connected by a causeway to the neighbouring island of

to the east of Kunoy. Before the causeway was built, travel to the island was by ferry. Nowadays the 504 bus runs a regular service across the causeway, with a route from

Klaksvík Klaksvík is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality. History The first se ...

through Ánir then across to Haraldssund and through the tunnel to Kunoy. :de:Kunoy A third settlement,

Skarð Skarð (pronounced ) is an abandoned village on the east coast of the island of Kunoy in the Norðoyar region of the Faroes. Skarð means ''mountain pass''. On December 23, 1913, all seven able-bodied men of the village perished while out fishin ...

, was the site of a fishing accident on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipati ...

, 1913 which killed seven men (all the male population except a 14-year-old and a 70-year-old). The women decided to move to Haraldssund, and the area is now deserted.

People

* Símun av Skarði (1872-1942), the Faroese poet, politician and teacher and founder of the Faroese Folk High School (Føroya Fólkaháskúli) was born in

, which was a small settlement on Kunoy, which was abandoned in 1919. He wrote the Faroese National Anthem, '' Mítt alfagra land''.

Geography

Important Bird Area

The coastline of the northern tip of the island has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its significance as a breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s, especially

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

s (250 pairs) and

black guillemot The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...

s (200 pairs). The

brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or ...

, was introduced on purpose by people from

, to the island in 1914 over some slight, and it has done tremendous damage to the bird population since then, most notably the

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeaster ...

Mountains

The island has the following eleven mountains, shown with their overall rank in the Faroe Islands:

List of mountains of the Faroe Islands The following is a list of mountains of the Faroes.Us.fo
Note, however, that several mountains have more than one peak. How ...

The top of Klubbin is well known for its

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic charact ...

, as it is one of the few areas where there never have been grazing sheep.

References

External links

personal website
with 6 aerial photos of Kunoy {{Authority control Islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands