Svínoy ( da, Svinø) is an island located in the north-east 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 ...

, to the east of

Borðoy Borðoy ( da, Bordø) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands. Its name means 'headland island'. There are eight settlements: Klaksvík (the second largest town in the Faroes), Norðoyri, Ánir, Árnafjørður, Strond, Norðtoftir, ...

and

Viðoy Viðoy ( da, Viderø) is the northernmost island in the Faroe Islands, located east of Borðoy to which it is linked via a causeway. The name means ''wood island,'' despite the fact that no trees grow on the island; the name relates to the driftwoo ...

. It takes its name from Old Norse, Svíney, meaning "Swine Isle". Svinoy also refers to a section of the ocean where North Atlantic water flows into the Norwegian Sea. There is a similarly named island,

Swona Swona is an uninhabited privately-owned island in the Pentland Firth off the north coast of Scotland. Geography and geology Swona is the more northerly of two islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness on the Sco ...

, in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) no ...

. Svínoy like Kalsoy is a comparatively isolated island, in that there are no bridge, tunnel or

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 Tr ...

links to it. There are boat and helicopter connections.

Geography

Svínoy is divided into two unequally sized peninsulas. The coast is mostly steep slopes and cliffs, including the precipice of Eysturhøvdi on the north coast. It has only one settlement, also named Svínoy, where all the inhabitants live.

Important Bird Area

The 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 Inte ...

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

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

s (25,000 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 (10,000 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 (100 pairs).BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Svínoy. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-24.

Mountains

There are seven mountains on Svínoy:

History

*975 Viking Chief Svínoyar-Bjarni is mentioned in the

Færeyinga saga The Færeyinga saga (), the saga of the Faroe Islands, is the story of how the Faroe Islanders were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway. Summary It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The author is unknown and the original ...

. A headstone in the church is assumed to be Bjarni's memorial stone. *1583 Jacob Eudensen from Svinoy was the last person in the Faroe Islands to be condemned to death for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

; he had refused to renounce his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith and convert to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Gallery

File:Svinoy Faroe Islands 2009.jpg, Svínoy village File:Svínoy6.jpg, Svínoy File:Coast of Svínoy, Faroe Islands (2).JPG, The coast of Svínoy File:Svínoy 1899.jpg, Svínoy in 1899

References

External links

personal website
with 9 aerial photos of Svínoy {{DEFAULTSORT:Svinoy Islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands