Viðoy ( da, Viderø) is the northernmost island 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 ...
, located 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, ...
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
driftwood
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Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves.
In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...
that floats in from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Geography
The island has two settlements:
Hvannasund
Hvannasund ( da, Kvannesund, older spelling: ''Quannesund'') is a village and municipality in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region in Denmark.
Hvannasund is located on the west coast of the island of Viðoy. It faces Norðdepil on Borðoy. T ...
on the south-west coast and
Viðareiði
Viðareiði (pronounced , literally: ''Wood-Isthmus'', da, Viderejde) is the northernmost settlement in the Faroe Islands and lies on the Island of Viðoy, which belongs to the Norðoyar Region.
Geography
It lies on an isthmus with high mountai ...
on the north-west coast, the northernmost settlement in the Faroes. A road along the west coast of the island connects the two. The island is connected by a road causeway from Hvannasund to
Norðdepil
Norðdepil (pronounced ; da, Norddeble) is a town on the east coast of the island of Borðoy in the Norðoyar Region of the Faroe Islands.
History
Norðdepil was founded in 1866. Its school opened in 1895.
On 18 August 1941, around noon, a Ger ...
on Borðoy, and a bus service from
Klaksvík
Klaksvík is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality.
History
The first ...
runs across the causeway to the island.
Important bird area
The island's northern and eastern coast has been identified as an
Important Bird Area by
BirdLife International 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 enviro ...
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 (500 pairs),
black-legged kittiwakes (5300 pairs),
Atlantic puffins (25,000 pairs),
common guillemot
The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...
s (6700 individuals) and
black guillemots (200 pairs).
[BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Vidoy.]
Mountains
Viðoy has eleven mountains, of which Villingadalsfjall is the northernmost peak in the Faroes. The north coast also has the
Enniberg
Cape Enniberg is a cliff located on the Island of Viðoy. At high, it is one of the highest promontories in the world.
Enniberg is the northernmost point of the Faroe Islands. At the southern foot of the nearby mountain, Villingadalsfjall, lie ...
cliff, which at 750 m is the second-highest sea-cliff in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
(after
Hornelen
Hornelen is a mountain in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The mountain sits on the eastern end of the island of Bremangerlandet, along the Frøysjøen strait, in the Nordfjord region of Norway. At , it is the highest sea cli ...
, in
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 mountains are shown with their overall rank in the Faroe Islands.
See also
List of mountains of the Faroe Islands
References
External links
*
*
Personal websitewith 6 aerial photos of Viðoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidoy
Islands of the Faroe Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands