Skúvoy

Skúvoy Skuø
Island
Skúvoy, as seen from Sandoy Skúvoy, as seen from Sandoy
Location within the Faroe Islands Location within the Faroe Islands
Coordinates:
State	Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country	Faroe Islands
Area
• Total	10 km2 (4 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2006)
• Total	52
• Density	5.2/km2 (13/sq mi)
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	EST (UTC+1)
Calling code	298

Skúvoy /ˈskʉuːwɪ/ or Skúgvoy /ˈskɪkvɪ/ (Danish: Skuø) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy.

It is named after the large number of skua present on the island (who have a habit of attacking intruders). There is only one settlement on the island: Skúvoy on the east coast. There are two mountains: Knúkur (392 m) and Heyggjurin Mikli (391 m).

History

The Black Death in the 14th century killed all the inhabitants except one woman; her cottage can still be seen. Skúvoy was also the home of Sigmundur Brestisson, the hero of the Færeyinga saga (Saga of the Faroese).

Important Bird Area

There are 300–400 m cliffs along the west coast, which are home to many guillemots. Egg harvesting takes place in early June, though this occurs in the first week only so as to allow the guillemots to lay again. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because of its significance as a breeding site for seabirds, especially northern fulmars (50,000 pairs), Manx shearwaters (10,000 pairs), European storm petrels (20,000 pairs), great skuas (25 pairs), Atlantic puffins (40,000 pairs), common guillemots (135,000 pairs) and black guillemots (150 pairs), as well as 40 breeding pairs of whimbrels.

• Ferry Sandur-Skuvoy.JPG

  The Skúvoy ferry in Sandur harbour

• Faroe stamp 373 skuvoy.jpg

  Stamp FR 373 of Postverk Føroya
  Issued: 22 May 2000
  Photo: Per á Hædd

• Skuvoy map.jpg

  Map of Skúvoy

• Skúvoy 01-06-2013.JPG

  Skúvoy village and a statue depicting Sigmundur Brestisson as a child

External links

• personal website with 9 aerial photos of Skúvoy