Værøya or Værøy is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Værøy Municipality Værøy is an island municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørland on the main island of Værøya. The other village in Vær� ...

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The island makes up about 89% of the land area of the whole municipality and it is home to 100% of the municipal residents.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was ''Veðrøy''. The first element is ''veðr'' which means "

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

" (here referring to harsh weather and the exposed and unsheltered position of the island). The last element is ''øy'' which means "island". Historically, the name has been spelled ''Værø''.

Geography

The island lies at the southern of the

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, between the islands of

Røstlandet Røstlandet is an island in Røst Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island makes up the majority of the land of the municipality and is home to most of its residents. The island is very low and marshy, with the highest point on the ...

and

Moskenesøya Moskenesøya (lit. ''Moskenes Island'') is an island at the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is shared between Moskenes Municipality and Flakstad Municipality. The tidal whirlpool system known as Mos ...

. The small, uninhabited island of

Mosken Mosken is a small uninhabited rocky island in Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located in the Lofoten archipelago about halfway between the islands of Værøya to the south and Moskenesøya to the north. The Mosken ...

lies a short distance north of Værøya. The

Moskenstraumen The Moskstraumen or Moskenstraumen is a system of tidal eddies and whirlpools, one of the strongest in the world, that forms at the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway between the Norwegian Sea and the Vestfjorden. It is located betwee ...

strait lies to the north of the island, the

Vestfjorden Vestfjorden is a long fjord or oceanic sea in Nordland county, Norway. The name literally means "the west fjord", although it is called a fjord, it could best be described as a firth or an open bight of sea. The "fjord" lies between the Lofo ...

lies to the east, and the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

is to the west. The highest point on the island is the tall mountain Nordlandsnupen. The island has two villages on it:

(on the northern edge of the island) and

Sørland Sørland is a Seaside resort, fishing village and the administrative centre of Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern side of the island of Værøya. The village is the main population center of the isl ...

(on the southeastern peninsula). About 95% of the island's residents live in Sørland, which is also the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality. There is also the old (now abandoned) village of

Mostad Mostad or Måstad is an abandoned village on the southern part of the island of Værøya at the southern end of the Lofoten archipelago and is located on a strandflat. It is located in Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Mostad was ...

on the southern part of the island. The

Værøy Church Værøy Church ( no, Værøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Sørland on the south side of the island of Værøya. It is the church for the Væ ...

and

Old Værøy Church Old Værøy Church ( no, Værøy gamle kirke) is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Nordland on the northern side of the island of Værøya. It used ...

are both located on the island.

History

The

Norwegian Lundehund The Norwegian Lundehund (Norwegian: ''Norsk lundehund'') is a small dog breed of the Spitz type that originates from Norway. Its name is a compound noun composed of the elements ''lunde'', meaning puffin (Norwegian ''lunde'', "puffin", or ''lunde ...

was a dog used in Værøy to hunt puffins on the narrow cliffs on the island. The dog breed nearly went extinct in the 20th century, but a few dogs remained and the breed has since made a comeback.

Important Bird Area

An 840 ha area consisting of vertical cliffs and steep grassy slopes on the south-west peninsula of the island, along with the Måstadfjellet

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and adjacent marine waters, has been designated a

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 it supports large breeding colonies of about 40,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins and 15–20,000 pairs of black-legged kittiwakes.

Media gallery

DSC00156måstadfjell.JPG Nordlandsnupen.jpg Måstad 2005-07-11.jpg Værøy-lundehund-2005-07-11.jpg Sørland.jpg Værøy.jpg Fishing boats at Værøy, Norway.jpg

References