Faroe Islands, Eysturoy, Skipanes and Undir Gøtueiði

Skálafjørður ( da, Skålefjord) is a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

Eysturoy Eysturoy (pronounced estroimeaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely ...

and the longest in 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 ...

Name

Skála Skála (reclaimed its original name ''Skála'' as opposed to incorrect ''Skáli'' in 2011;Landverk

is a town situated on the western shore of the fjord. Its name (''Skáli'', genitive case ''skála'') means 'hall', 'assembly hall' or 'isolated hut' in Faroese. The southern part of the fjord near Runavík is historically also known as Kongshavn (''King's Harbour'') in Danish, referring to the excellent shelter in the natural harbour.

Geography

The Skálafjørður is the longest fjord in the

. It measures (

Equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is th ...

line) from the village of Skálafjørður to where it fuses with the

Tangafjørður Tangafjørður is the southern part of the strait separating the islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy in the Faroe Islands. The northern part of the strait between is named Sundini. Name ''Tangi,'' genitive case ''tanga,'' is a Faroese word meaning ...

, between Raktangi (near Strendur) and

Toftir Toftir ( da, Tofte) is a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is part of a chain of villages stretching over a distance of 10 kilometres on the east side of Skálafjørður (fjord) on Eysturoy island. ...

. The deepest points are two different spots at circa depth near the villages of Runavík and

Søldarfjørður Søldarfjørður ( da, Solmundefjord) is a village in the south of the Faroese island of Eysturoy in Runavík Municipality. The 2002 population was 344. Its postal code is FO 344. References External linksPersonal Danish site with photographs ...

respectively. The entrance of the fjord contains a shallow glacial threshold, at in between Strendur and Saltnes. Here the fjord is at its narrowest (, not including breakwaters), whereas the fjord overall has a fairly steady width of . The threshold limits water circulation in and out of the fjord, compounding oxygen inflow and biological activity. Thanks to this threshold, the fjord forms an excellent roadstead and was used as a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

shelter for the allied forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Transport

There are national highways on either side of the fjord. The

Eysturoyartunnilin The Eysturoyartunnilin (in English the Eysturoy Tunnel, earlier known as the Skálafjarðartunnilin) is a large undersea road tunnel under the Tangafjørður sound in the Faroe Islands, connecting the island of Streymoy to the island of Eysturo ...

offers a road connection between Runavík, Strendur and

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. " Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, reducing road distances between both Eysturoy towns and Tórshavn from to . The tunnel has three entrances, with an underwater roundabout situated at a depth of below sea level. For local transport between Runavík and Strendur, the new tunnel results in a road distance of , compared to over the old route via Skálabotnur. The tunnel opened in December 2020. In conjunction with new traffic pulses, Runavík is going to have a bypass highway built (Fjøruvegin, ''foreshore road'') from the Eysturoyartunnilin to Glyvrar, on the shoreline. Until 2003 a passenger ferry operated 2-3 times daily between Tórshavn, Toftir and Strendur.

Villages

On the eastern bank are the villages, from north to south: Undir Gøtueiði, Skipanes,

, Lambareiði, Glyvrar,

Saltangará Saltangará ( da, Saltangerå) is a village in the Faroe Islands, on the island of Eysturoy. Saltangará was founded in 1846 and is situated on the eastern side of Eysturoys Skalafjordur-inlet between Rituvík and Søldarfjørður. The name is ...

, Runavík, Saltnes and

. The last five villages and Nes form one continuous built-up area. On the western bank are Skálafjørður (village),

Skála Skála (reclaimed its original name ''Skála'' as opposed to incorrect ''Skáli'' in 2011;Landverk

, Innan Glyvur and Strendur. The fjord is bordered by three municipalities: Runavíkar (to which also Skála belongs),

Eysturkommuna Eystur Municipality (Eysturkommuna) is a municipality (kommuna) in the Faroe Islands. In Faroese, ''eystur'' means east and so the municipality is ''East Municipality''. It covers an eastern part of the island of Eysturoy. It was created on 1 Jan ...

and Sjóvar kommuna. The headquarters of fish processing factory Bakkafrost are situated in Glyrvar. The village of Skálafjørður was also known as Skálabotnur until 2019. Its beach has been the sole officially recognised local grind bay, for whale hunting, since 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skalafjordur Geography of the Faroe Islands Fjords of the Faroe Islands

Name

Geography

Transport

Villages

See also

References