Eysturoy (, meaning 'East Island') is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and the second-largest of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, both in size and population.

Description

Eysturoy is separated by a narrow

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

from the main island of

Streymoy Streymoy (, ) 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 ...

. Eysturoy is extremely rugged, with some 66 separate mountain peaks, including Slættaratindur, the highest peak in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

at . The country's two longest fjords, Skálafjørður in the south and Funningsfjørður in the north, almost split the island in two halves. The isthmus in between, Millum Fjarða, is one of the flattest areas in the country. Important settlements on Eysturoy are Fuglafjørður in the north and the densely populated area of the municipalities of Runavík and Nes in the south. Eysturoy is connected with Streymoy by the Streymin Bridge over the Sundini.

Leirvík Leirvík is a town on the Faroe Islands and was an important regional ferry harbour at the east coast of the second-largest island Eysturoy. It was the only town in the municipality of Leirvík (''Leirvíkar kommuna''), however on 1 January 2009 ...

on the east coast of the island is the gateway for transport connections to the north-eastern islands, particularly

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 fir ...

on the island of

Borðoy Borðoy (, ) 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, Depil and ...

, which is the Faroes' second-largest town. In December 2020, the sub-sea Eysturoyartunnilin (the Eysturoy Tunnel) was opened, creating a direct link between Runavík, Strendur and

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), 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 th ...

. Sites of interest on Eysturoy include the villages of Eiði and

Gjógv Gjógv (pronounced , literally: ''Canyon, gorge'', ''Geo (landscape), geo'') is a village located on the northeast tip of the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands and 63 km (39 mi) north by road from the capital of Tórshavn. The vi ...

, the latter having a small natural port in a rock column; the Blásastova historical museum in the village of Gøta; and the ''varmakelda'' (thermal springs) of Fuglafjørður. Off the northern tip of the island are the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

sea stacks Risin og Kellingin. The town of

Glyvrar Glyvrar () is a village located on Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is one of several villages on the east side of the Skálafjørður fjord that have grown into a 10-kilometre-long conurbation. In Glyvrar there is a museum called ’Bygdas ...

on the eastern coast of Eysturoy is the home-base for

Bakkafrost P/F Bakkafrost is a Faroe Islands, Faroese Atlantic salmon, salmon Fish farming, farming company based in Glyvrar on the island of Eysturoy in the Faroe Islands. Bakkafrost is the largest fish farming company in the Faroe Islands, and is the bigg ...

, the largest company in the Faroe Islands. Bakkafrost is the eighth-largest fishing company worldwide. Four out of ten Premier league

football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

are in Eysturoy: IF ( Fuglafjørður), NSÍ ( Runavík), Skála ÍF and Víkingur (

). There are regional rowing festivals in Fuglafjørður (Varmakelda), Runavík (Eystanstevna), and one alternating between Skáli, Strendur and Vestmanna (Fjarðastevna). Accepted ''grind'' beaches are in Fuglafjørður, Funningsfjørður, Norðra- and Syðragøta, Norðskáli and Skálafjørður.

Important Bird Area

The north, north-east, and south-east coasts of the island have 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 i ...

because of their significance as

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

breeding sites, especially for

Manx shearwater The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an ...

s (2500 pairs), European storm petrels (500 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).BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Eysturoy. Downloaded from on 2012-02-22.

References

External links

*
Personal website
with 15 aerial photos of Eysturoy {{Authority control Islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands

Description

Important Bird Area

References

Further reading

External links