Sørvágsvatn is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the island of

Vágar Vágar ( da, Vågø) is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the ''large islands''. With a size of , it ranks number three, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy. Vágar region also comprises the island ...

between the municipalities of Sørvágur and

. Its area is 3.4 km², more than three times the size of Fjallavatn, the second largest lake, also located on Vágar.

Name

Among the locals, there is disagreement regarding the name of the lake. The inhabitants of Sørvágur to the west prefer ''Sørvágsvatn'', which means "the lake by Sørvágur". The inhabitants of Miðvágur and Sandavágur to the east prefer ''Leitisvatn'', which means "the lake by Leiti", referring to the territory on the east side of it. The village of Miðvágur is situated closer to the lake than Sørvágur, but the latter is considered to have been settled earlier. Sørvágur – alongside

Bøur Bøur ( da, Bø) is a village in the Sørvágur Municipality of the Faroe Islands, 4 km west of Sørvágur, with a population of 75 (2012).Sandavágur – is considered one of the three original settlements on Vágar. These divided the land on the island into three equal regions of 60 marks, which would place the lake within Sørvágur's region. The locals mostly refer to it as ''Vatnið'' ("the lake"), which is understood as a reference to that body of water. It is mostly when people from other parts of the Faroes refer to the lake by one of its given names that the debate will occur.

Geography

The lake is located very close to the ocean, but its surface is about 40 meters above the level of the sea. It is surrounded by a higher cliff which prevents it from emptying fully into the ocean, the waterfall

Bøsdalafossur Bøsdalafossur is a waterfall in the Faroe Islands that flows from the lake Sørvágsvatn/Leitissvatn and into the Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approxi ...

being the outlet. The greater height of the cliffs on either side of Bøsdalafossur can give the illusion from certain perspectives that the lake is higher above sea level than it is.

History

During World War II, the British army built an airfield (now

Vágar Airport Vágar Airport ( fo, Vága Floghavn) is the only airport in the Faroe Islands, and is located east of the village of Sørvágur, on the island of Vágar. Due to the Faroe Islands' status as a self-governing territory, the airport is not subje ...

) to the west of the lake. They also built a station to support seaplanes. The first aircraft to land on the lake was a Catalina from RAF Coastal Command, in 1941.

Places and names

* Trælanípan * Oyrar *

* Sjatlá * Sálarbótsá

Tourism

There are opportunities for fishing

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

on the lake. In the summer of 2005 a local initiative was set up for boat excursions on it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorvagsvatn Lakes of the Faroe Islands Vágar