Suðuroy

Suðuroy
Island
Location within the Faroe Islands
Federacy	Kingdom of Denmark
Country	Faroe Islands
Largest municipality	Tvøroyri
Area
• Total	163.7 km2 (63.2 sq mi)
• Rank	4
Highest elevation	610 m (2,000 ft)
Population  (2010)
• Total	4,763
• Density	29/km2 (75/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (EST)
Calling code	298

Suðuroy (literally South Island) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 km². In 2010 there were 4763 inhabitants, but there has been a gradual decline in the population numbers ever since the 1950s.

These are the settlements of Suðuroy (listed from north to south): Sandvík (re-established as a settlement in the early 19th century) Hvalba, Froðba, Tvøroyri, Trongisvágur, Øravík, Fámjin, Hov, Porkeri, Vágur, Fámará (re-established in 2010), Akrar, Lopra and Sumba.

One ancient settlement Víkarbyrgi was abandoned late in the 1990s. Another settlement Akraberg was abandoned around 1350 because of the black death, the people who lived there at that time came from Friesland, and legend has it that people in Hørg (in Sumba) can trace their ancestry back to this settlement, which was situated on the southernmost point of the island.

Two more settlement were started in early and mid 20th century: Botni north west of Vágur and Tjaldavík in a bay south east of Øravík, but both have been abandoned again.

Geography

The highest point of Suðuroy is the mountain Gluggarnir (610 m), but the most famous peak is definitely the mountain of Beinisvørð west of the village of Sumba. The Beinisvørð and its beauty has been praised by the local poet Poul F. Joensen (1898–1970) as well as other Faroese poets. Suðuroy is the island which has most islets and skerries. Suðuroy and the islets and skerries near the island are 263 including the island itself.

Tourism

Visitors to Suðuroy travel by the ferry Smyril M/S from Tórshavn. The crossing takes about two hours and if the weather and the trip is recognised as attractive. There are scenic views of nine of the total of eighteen islands that make up the Faroese archipelago. They are in the following order from north to south: Streymoy, Nólsoy, Hestur, Koltur, Sandoy, Skúvoy, Stóra Dímun, Lítla Dímun and Suðuroy.

As one travels past the two Dimun islands, the coastline of Suðuroy is in the background.

It is possible to go by bus from the harbour of Krambatangi to Tvøroyri, Hvalba and Sandvík in the north on route 701 or to Vágur and all the other villages in the southern part of the island, Sumba being the southernmost and the terminus of route 700.

From Tvøroyri there is an attractive walk across the mountains to a valley called Hvannhagi. There is a view over the valley and Lítla Dímun and the sea from above the valley.

From Tvøroyri one can follow the coast street over the mountains to Øravík, and from there there are three options. One can turn right to Fámjin, or one can continue straight ahead and take the tunnel to Hov, or take the old mountain road to Hov. After either of these two options you come to Hov and from there one can continue to the villages, Porkeri, Nes, Vágur, Lopra, Akrarand from Lopra you can either take the road tunnel to Sumba or you can take the old curvy mountain road, which passes by the sea cliff Beinisvørð, than continue to Akraberg with the lighthouse and to the southernmost village Sumba. As mentioned above, one can also turn right from the village Øravík and follow the road over the mountain to the little village Fámjin, which is one of two villages on the west coast of Suðuroy, Sumba is the other one. All the other villages are located on the east coast. There is a road tunnel between Øravík and Hov, as mentioned above. If you are in a hurry you can take the tunnel, but the road over the mountain is a beautiful trip, especially on your way back again to the ferry, with a nice view over the fjords Tjaldavík with Tjaldavíksholmur and Trongisvágsfjørður with the villages/towns Froðba, Tvøroyri and Trongisvágur lying around it.

Jóansøka - The Midsummer Festival of Suðuroy

Tvøroyri and Vágur take turns in hosting an annual civic-festival called Jóansøka. It can be described as a smaller version of the Ólavsøka held in Tórshavn. It runs in late June, in the last weekend of June, the rowing competition is always on Saturday of the Jóansøka weekend.

Sports in Suðuroy

The sport center, and a part of Vágur

Pál Joensen

Rowing competition at Jóansøka in Vágur in June 2010.

Football in Suðuroy

The oldest sports club in the Faroe Islands, the football club Tvøroyrar Bóltfelag (TB) was founded in Tvøroyri on May 13, 1892, and is thereby the 9th oldest football club in the Danish Kingdom. There were three other football clubs in Suðuroy: Vágs Bóltfelag, (VB), Royn from Hvalba and the football club from Sumba, but VB Vágur and Sumba merged in 2005 to VB/Sumba. On January 1, 2010 a new football club has been founded in Suðuroy, it is called FC Suðuroy and currently consists of the prior VB/Sumba.

FC Suðuroy and TB Tvøroyri compete in the second best Faroese football division, and both TB Tvøroyri and VB Vágur have won the Faroese National Championship (TB seven times, the last being in 1987, and VB once in the year 2000); but since the success is lacking in recent years, there is a growing debate about merging the four teams into one, (VB and Sumba have, as mentioned above, already joined forces since 2005). FC Suðuroy was playing in the best division in 2010, Vodafonedeildin, TB is playing in the second best division 1. deild. Royn Hvalba is playing in 2. division in 2011.

Swimming in Suðuroy

Suðuroy has recently had good results in international swimming competitions. The two swimming clubs in Suðuroy "Vágs Svimjifelag" and "Tvøroyrar Svimjifelag" joined forces 6 September 2007 and founded Susvim, which is for the whole island. A young man from Vágur has had the best results until now. Pál Joensen won triple gold in the 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships on short course in the men's 400 M, 800 M and 1500 M Freestyle. Two years later he won silver in the Men's 1500 M Freestyle at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships. Other swimmers from Susvim hava also had good results in Faroe Islands and in Denmark and at the Island Games competitions.

Rowing in Suðuroy

There are two active rowing clubs in Suðuroy, Vágs Kappróðrarfelag from Vágur and Froðbiar Sóknar Róðrarfelag from Tvøroyri and the villages around Trongisvágsfjørður (fjord). There are also rowing clubs in Sumba and in Hvalba. In Sumba they had a boat which was called Broddur, but they have not been active for some years now. In Hvalba they had a boat which was named Snopprikkur after a well known man from the history of Suðuroy (Suðuroyar Sagnir). Vágs Kappróðrarfelag has these boats: Royndin Fríða, which is a so-called 5-mannafar, Smyril, which is a 6-mannafar, Toftaregin, which is a 8-mannafar and Vágbingur, which is a 10-mannafar. Froðbiar Sóknar Róðrarfelag has the boats Firvaldur, which is a 5-mannafar (Firvaldur means Butterfly), Firildur and Hulda are also 5-mannafar, Tvørábáturin is a 6-mannafar, Suðringur and another Tvørábáturin are 10-mannafar (there are two boats which are called Tvørábáturin, which means the boat from Tvøroyri).

Gallery

• 
  Double rainbow at Akraberg
• 
  The westcoast of Suðuroy
• 
  The west coast between Vágur and Sumba
• 
  Hvannhagi
• 
  Hvalba and Lítla Dímun
• 
  Old store houses in Tvøroyri
• 
  Old shop in Tvøroyri, now pub
• 
  Ásmundurstakkur west of Sandvík
• 
  West coast of Sandvík
• 
  Between Hov and Tvøroyri

Sources

• Hagstova.fo, Faroe Islands Statistics
• Susvim

External links

• Visitsuduroy.fo, General travel information about Suðuroy
• Sudurras.com, Suðurrás The News Portal of Suðuroy
• SSL.fo, Time schedule of Smyril the Suðuroy ferry and busses
• Smyril - The ferry to Suðuroy
• Painting Courses in Suðuroy
• Art Gallery Oyggin
• Ruth Smith Art Museum
• Photos on Flickr tagged with Suðuroy.