Streymoy ( da, Strømø) is the largest and most populated island of 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 ...

. The capital,

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 ...

, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest

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 an ...

of the country that also includes the islands of

Hestur Hestur ( da, Hestø) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, to the west of Streymoy and the south of Koltur. ''Hestur'' means ''horse'' in Faroese. On the west coast is a guillemot colony. In the north there is moorland with four small lakes, ...

, Koltur and

Nólsoy Nólsoy (previously also ''Nölsoy''; da, Nolsø; non, Norsey) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4 km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy. Description Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjark ...

Geography

The island is oblong in shape and stretches roughly in northwest–southeast direction with a length of and a width of around . There are two deeply-indented

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 ...

s in the southeast: Kollafjørður and Kaldbaksfjørður. The island is mountainous (average height is 337 meter ), especially in the northwest, with the highest peak being Kopsenni (). That area is dominated by over cliffs. The area is known as Vestmannabjørgini, which means Cliffs of Vestmanna. The beaches of Tórshavn, Vestmanna, Leynar, Kollafjørður, Hvalvík (meaning Whale Bay) and Tjørnuvík are officially approved ''grind'' beaches for whaling. Like the rest of the

there are numerous short streams and minor lakes. The main vegetation is grass, with no trees. Some of the villages have planted trees inside or just outside the village. These parks need to have fences around them in order to keep sheep out. Streymoy is separated from the nearby Eysturoy, the second-largest island of the

, by the sounds of Sundini and Tangafjørður. To the west lies the island of Vágar, and to the south the island of Sandoy, separated by the Vestmannasund and Skopunarfjørður respectively. Three additional smaller islands are situated around the southern tip of Streymoy and belong to the Streymoy

sýsla A sýsla is a police district in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and formerly in Denmark and Norway. For the historical entity see: syssel. Faroe Islands sýsla * Norðoyar * Eysturoy * Streymoy * Vágar * Sandoy * Suðuroy Iceland * Árnessýsla ...

: Koltur,

and

; all of which are incorporated into Tórshavn Municipality.

Important bird area

The north-east coastline of the island 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 ...

because of its 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 envir ...

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 Hem ...

s (75,000 pairs), European storm petrels (2500 pairs), European shags (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 (120 pairs), black-legged kittiwakes (9000 pairs), Atlantic puffins (20,000 pairs) and black guillemots (300 pairs).

Population

There are about 24,682 inhabitants on the island (January 2020), which represents more than 45% of the whole population of the

. The majority of them reside in the capital

, which has a population of about 21,000 in the municipality, of whom 13,089 live in Tórshavn, 3,956 in Hoyvík, and 2,110 in

Argir Argir ( da, Arge) is a village in the Faroe Islands. Argir most likely takes its name from Old Irish ''airge'' meaning ''summer pasture''.; several placenames in Faroe carry the same name with this meaning. Once a village south of Tórshavn, Arg ...

. Hoyvík and Argir are suburbs of Tórshavn, but they have grown together. Around 1,202 people live in Vestmanna, and 789 in Kollafjørður. Besides being the seat of the government,

is also the chief port, the seat of the university and the commercial centre of the islands.

Towns and villages

The other important towns include: Vestmanna, the former ferry port in the west, Kollafjørður at the centre and the picturesque villages of Saksun and Tjørnuvík in the north. From a historic point of view the village of Kirkjubøur near the southern tip of the island is very important as it was an episcopal center during the Middle Ages. List of villages * Tjørnuvík * Haldarsvík * Langasandur * Nesvík *

Streymnes Streymnes ( da, Strømnæs) is a village on the eastern coast of the Faroese island of Streymoy in Sunda Municipality. The 2015 population was 270. Its postal code is FO 435. It is near the site of a former Norwegian whaling station active from ...

* Hvalvík * Saksun * Hósvík * Kollafjørður *

Signabøur Signabøur ( da, Signebø) is a village on the east coast of the Faroese island Streymoy in Tórshavn Municipality. The 2015 population was 133. Its postal code is FO 416. Whaling station In 1903 Hans Albert Grøn built the whaling station Ver ...

* Leynar * Kvívík * Vestmanna * Kaldbaksbotnur *

Kaldbak Kaldbak ( da, Kalbak) is a village in the Faroe Islands, on Streymoy's east coast and part of Tórshavn Municipality. The village lies on the northern side of the fjord Kaldbaksfjørður. History Excavations show that Kaldbak was already inhabit ...

* Sund * Norðradalur *

Hvítanes Hvítanes ( da, Hvidenæs) is a village in the Faroe Islands. It is on Streymoy's east coast, northeast of Hoyvík and Tórshavn. Its name means "White Point" in Faroese. Hvítanes is located in a little bay with a stone beach and a harbour whe ...

* Hoyvík *

* Syðradalur * Velbastaður * Kirkjubøur

Transportation

All the settlements are connected by surfaced roads. The main entry road to

passes through a long tunnel. The connection to the island of Eysturoy is via Streymin Bridge over the Sundini sound. Since 2002, the almost long Vágar Tunnel has connected Streymoy to Vágar, thereby completing the road connections of the three "mainland" islands. Since December 2020, the Eysturoyartunnilin has connected southern Streymoy to Eysturoy. One undersea tunnel is currently under construction: the Sandoyartunnilin connecting Streymoy to Sandoy (due to open in 2023). Streymoy is connected by regular ferry service to the island of Sandoy from the ferry port of Gamlarætt near Kirkjubøur, and to the islands of Suðuroy and

from the ferry port in

. A scheduled ferry connects

with Hirtshals in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and Seyðisfjörður in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. The closest airport is

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 ...

on Vágar island (35 minutes by car); it is the only airport in the Faroe Islands.

Gallery

Sundini at Norðskáli, Faroe Islands.JPG, The Streymin Bridge over Sundini Sound connects Eysturoy to Streymoy. Faroe Islands, Streymoy, Tórshavn (1).jpg, The capital

is on Streymoy. Skælingur and the West Coast of Streymoy Faroe Islands.JPG, West coast of Streymoy. Saksun, Faroe Islands (5).JPG, Mountain scenery near Saksun. Faroe Islands, Streymoy, Oyggjarvegur (road No.10) north of Tórshavn.jpg, The central highlands of Streymoy in winter.

References

External links

* *
Tórshavn and Streymoy
Tourist Information {{Authority control Islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands