Viðoy (, ) is the northernmost island in the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
, located east of
Borðoy 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 T ...
. The name means ''wood island,'' despite the fact that no trees grow on the island; the name relates to the
driftwood that floats in from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
Geography
The island has two settlements:
Hvannasund on the south-west coast and
Viðareiði
Viðareiði (, literally: ''Wood-Isthmus'', ) is the northernmost settlement in the Faroe Islands and lies on the Island of Viðoy, which belongs to the Norðoyar Region.
Geography
It lies on an isthmus with high mountains to both the north and s ...
on the north-west coast, the northernmost settlement in the Faroes. A road along the west coast of the island connects the two. The island is connected by a road causeway from Hvannasund to
Norðdepil on Borðoy, and a bus service from
Klaksvík runs across the causeway to the island.
Important bird area
The island's northern and eastern coast has been identified as an
Important Bird Area 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 i ...
because of its significance as a breeding site for
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s, especially
European storm petrels (500 pairs),
black-legged kittiwakes (5300 pairs),
Atlantic puffin
The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family (biology), family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin being found ...
s (25,000 pairs),
common guillemots (6700 individuals) and
black guillemots (200 pairs).
[BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Vidoy.]
Mountains
Viðoy has eleven mountains, of which Villingadalsfjall is the northernmost peak in the Faroes. The north coast also has the
Enniberg cliff, which at 750 m is the second-highest sea-cliff in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
(after
Hornelen, in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
). The mountains are shown with their overall rank in the Faroe Islands.
See also
List of mountains of the Faroe Islands
References
External links
*
*
Personal websitewith 6 aerial photos of Viðoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidoy
Islands of the Faroe Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands