Sandoy ("Sand Island") is the first of the five southern islands that make up the Faroe chain, the fifth biggest of all the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
,
an autonomous region of the
Kingdom of Denmark
The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...
. It also refers to the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
that includes this island along with
Skúvoy
Skúvoy or Skúgvoy ( da, Skuø) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy.
It is named after the large number of great skua present on the island (who have a habit of attacking intruders). There is only one se ...
and
Stóra Dímun. , the largest population centre on the island is the village of
Sandur with a population of 532. Other settlements include
Skarvanes
Skarvanes ( da, Skarvenæs; lit. 'cape of shags') is a village on Sandoy, in the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territor ...
,
Skopun
Skopun (pronounced ; da, Skopen) is a town in the Faroe Islands situated on the northern coast of Sandoy.
Skopun is the second-largest town on the island. Skopun Municipality consists only of the town of Skopun.
History
Although the area has be ...
,
Skálavík
Skálavík ( da, Skålevig) is a village and municipality on the eastern coast of the Faroese island Sandoy.
History
The village's stone church was built in 1891. The famous Faroese writers Heðin Brú (born Hans Jacob Jacobsen) (1901–1987) and ...
,
Húsavík
Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is s ...
and
Dalur
Dalur ( da, Dal) is a village in the Faroe Islands. Dalur is located on the east-side of Sandoy.
The village lies in the bottom of a relatively large valley. ''Dalur'' means ''valley'' in Faroese.
A little road leads from Dalur to the south-tip o ...
.
Sandoy gets its name from the large beach at
Sandur, and the general sandy soil of the island. It is the only island with
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s.
There are similarly named islands,
Sanday in the
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
Islands,
Sanday in the
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...
and
Sandøy
Sandøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre was the village of Steinshamn. Other villages included Ona and Myklebost. The municipality was spread out over man ...
in Norway.
At present the
Sandoyartunnilin
Sandoyartunnilin (Sandoy Tunnel) is an undersea road tunnel under construction in the Faroe Islands. It will connect the main island of Streymoy with Sandoy to the south. The length of the tunnel will be 10.8 kilometres. The estimated cost is 8 ...
is being constructed between the centre of the island and the port of
Gamlarætt
Gamlarætt is a ferry port in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the southwestern side of the island of Streymoy, the largest island in the Faroes, between the villages of Velbastaður and Kirkjubøur. It accommodates ferry services to the isl ...
on
Streymoy. Construction started in 2019 and is not expected to be finished before 2023.
Agriculture
The island is considered the best island for
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
due to its fertile sandy soil. The largest potato farm in the country is located on the island. And people who have gardening interests have generally an easier time getting plants to grow here.
On 19 August 2015 the agricultural union "Veltan" was founded for people who have an interest in gardening and farming, their aim is to improve conditions for a self-sustaining way of life, and agricultural businesses.
The island supports 6,878 sheep, not including lambs. There are two
''grind'' beaches used for whaling, in
Húsavík
Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is s ...
and
Sandur.
Important Bird Areas
The island's surrounding
bird cliff
Bird cliffs, or nesting cliffs, are steep cliffs with numerous small shelves which serve as nesting locations for bird colonies. Bird cliffs are found on islands in the North Atlantic and Arctic, such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Svalbard ...
s and steep slopes have 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 ...
(IBA) by
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 their 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 enviro ...
s, especially
northern fulmar
The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemis ...
s (50,000 pairs),
Manx shearwater
The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an ...
s (5000 pairs),
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 (50,000 pairs),
European shag
The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mai ...
s (150 pairs),
great skua
The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken fr ...
s (15 pairs),
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 northeastern ...
s (70,000 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 (400 pairs). An additional IBA on the island comprises the lowland areas around the village of
Sandur, with their
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
and
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
bogs, and the lakes Gróthúsvatn, Lítlavatn, Sandsvatn and Stóravatn, because they support 100-150 breeding pairs of
Eurasian whimbrels.
[BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Vøtnini á Sandoy (Lakes of Sandoy). Downloaded fro]
Birdlife.org
on 2012-02-23.
See also
*
List of islands of the Faroe Islands
This is a list of islands of the Faroe Islands. There are 18 islands, of which Lítla Dímun is the only one uninhabited. Besides these 18 islands there are also several islets and skerries in the Faroes.
See also
*Geography of the Faroe Isla ...
Further reading
* Jørgensen, Gunni, and Jóannes Rasmussen. ''Glacial Striae, Roches Moutonnées, and Ice Movements on Sandoy (Faeroe Islands)''. Communications géologiques, no 314.
openhagen, Denmark Muséum de minéralogie et de géologie de l'Université de Copenhague, 1978.
* Lawson, Ian, et al. 2005. "Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives". ''Human Ecology''. 33, no. 5: 651–684.
Gallery
File:Skarvanes, Faroe Islands.JPG, Skarvanes
File:Sandsvatn a Lake on Sandoy in the Faroe Islands.JPG, The lake Sandsvatn
The Sandsvatn is the largest lake on the island of Sandoy and the third largest in the Faroe Islands, measuring 0.8 km2 with a depth of 5 metres. It is situated in a valley between Skopun and Sandur, just north of the latter on Road 30. At ...
is the largest on the island and the third largest in the Faroe Islands.
File:Húsavík, Faroe Islands (2).JPG, Húsavík, Faroe Islands
Húsavík ( da, Husevig) is an old village located on the east of the island of Sandoy, in Húsavík Municipality, Faroe Islands.
In the centre of Húsavík there is a ruin called ‘Heimi á Garði’. It is said to be the remains of a farm th ...
File:Skopun (2).JPG, Skopun
Skopun (pronounced ; da, Skopen) is a town in the Faroe Islands situated on the northern coast of Sandoy.
Skopun is the second-largest town on the island. Skopun Municipality consists only of the town of Skopun.
History
Although the area has be ...
File:Skalavik Sandoy Faroe Islands in July 2012.JPG, Skálavík
Skálavík ( da, Skålevig) is a village and municipality on the eastern coast of the Faroese island Sandoy.
History
The village's stone church was built in 1891. The famous Faroese writers Heðin Brú (born Hans Jacob Jacobsen) (1901–1987) and ...
File:Dalur, Faroe Islands.JPG, Dalur
Dalur ( da, Dal) is a village in the Faroe Islands. Dalur is located on the east-side of Sandoy.
The village lies in the bottom of a relatively large valley. ''Dalur'' means ''valley'' in Faroese.
A little road leads from Dalur to the south-tip o ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Islands of the Faroe Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands