Streymoy ( da, Strømø) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region 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 fjords in the southeast:

Kollafjørður Kollafjørður ( da, Kollefjord) is a village in the Faroe Islands, located on the island of Streymoy. As of 1. January 2022, the village had a population of 828. Its postal code is FO 410. Until 2001 it was a municipality in its own right but is ...

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 Leynar ( da, Lejnum) is a village in the Faroe Islands, a self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark. The village is situated on the western coast of the island of Streymoy in the municipality of Kvívíkar. It has a population o ...

Hvalvík Hvalvík ( da, Kvalvig) is a village in the Faroe Islands, located in a valley on the east coast of the island of Streymoy. It is the southern half of a twin-village situated on both sides of the valley. The villages are divided by the river St ...

(meaning Whale Bay) and Tjørnuvík are officially approved ''grind'' beaches for whaling. Like the rest of the Faroe Islands 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 Faroe Islands, by the sounds of Sundini and Tangafjørður. To the west lies 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 ...

, 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 * Árnessý ...

: 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 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 ...

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 seabirds, 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 Hemis ...

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 kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

s (9000 pairs),

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

s (20,000 pairs) and

black guillemot The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...

s (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 Faroe Islands. The majority of them reside in the capital Tórshavn, 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

. Besides being the seat of the government, Tórshavn 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,

at the centre and the picturesque villages of

Saksun Saksun is a village near the northwest coast of the Faroese island of Streymoy, in Sunda Municipality. Geography Saksun lies in the bottom of what used to be an inlet of the sea, surrounded by high mountains. The inlet formed a good deep natur ...

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 Langasandur ( da, Langesand) is a village located on the Faroese island of Streymoy in the municipality of Sunda. The village was settled in 1938, the name Langasandur means Longbeach. Whaling station In 1894, the first whaling station in ...

* 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 ...

* Hósvík *

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 Ve ...

Kvívík Kvívík ( da, Kvivig) is a village on the west coast of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands, in the eponymous municipality of ''Kvívík''. History Kvívík is one of the oldest settlements in the Faroes and excavations have shown the remains of Viki ...

* Vestmanna *

Kaldbaksbotnur Kaldbaksbotnur is a village on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands. Geography Kaldbaksbotnur is located on the east coast of Streymoy. The village consists two farms. One farm is located in the bottom of Kaldbaksfjørður on the western ...

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 inhabi ...

* Sund *

Norðradalur Norðradalur ( da, Nordredal) is a village on the western coast of the Faroese island of Streymoy in Tórshavn Municipality. The 2015 population was 15. Its postal code is FO 178. The village lies in a large valley surrounded be steep cliffs and t ...

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 language, Faroese. Hvítanes is located in a little bay with a stone beach a ...

* Hoyvík * Tórshavn *

Syðradalur Syðradalur (, is a village on the island of Kalsoy, one of the Faroe Islands. Syðradalur is the southernmost village on the island, and is in Húsar Municipality. On 1 January 2009, Syðradalur had nine inhabitants, down from 12 in 1985. Bj� ...

Velbastaður Velbastaður ( da, Velbestad) is a village on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands. It is a part of Tórshavn Municipality and is considered among the oldest settlements in the islands. There are two schools and one kindergarten in the vi ...

* Kirkjubøur

Transportation

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

, 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 Sandoyartunnilin (Sandoy Tunnel) is an undersea road tunnel under construction in the Faroe Islands. It will connect the main island of Streymoy with Sandoy to the south. The length of the tunnel will be 10.8 kilometres. The estimated cost is 86 ...

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 Suðuroy (literally South Island, da, Suderø) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla ...

and

from the ferry port in Tórshavn. A scheduled ferry connects Tórshavn with Hirtshals in Denmark and Seyðisfjörður in Iceland. 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 ...

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 Tórshavn 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

. 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