Eiði Municipality
Eiðis kommuna (Faroese)
View of Eiði
View of Eiði
Official seal of Eiði Municipality
Seal
Location of Eiði Municipality
Coordinates: 62°17′57″N 7°05′25″W / 62.299167°N 7.090278°W / 62.299167; -7.090278
StateDenmark
Constituent countryFaroe Islands
RegionEysturoy
Established1894
SeatEiði
Government
 • MayorRógvi Egilstoft
Area
 • Total37 km2 (14 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)[1]
 • Total810
 • Density18.57/km2 (48.1/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC±00:00 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+01:00 (WEST)
Websitewww.eidi.fo

Eiði Municipality (Faroese: Eiðis kommuna) is a municipality of the Faroe Islands. It is part of the Eysturoy region, and consists of a northwesterly part of the Eysturoy island. The municipality borders Runavík Municipality to the east and Sunda Municipality to the south and east. The population of the municipality is 810 (2023). The mayor of the municipality is Rógvi Egilstoft, and the municipal council consists of seven members elected every four years.[2][1][3]

The municipality contains Lake Eiði, which is situated between Eiði and Ljósá on the northwest side of Eysturoy. The Breiðá River flows nearby. Eiði power plant, the largest hydroelectric power station in the Faroe Islands, lies on the lake. The power plant opened in 1987, and is owned by the power producer and distributor SEV. A 100 metres (330 ft) long pipe, capable of holding some 17,000,000 m³ of water, feeds the plant, running from a tunnel leading up a nearby mountain.[4]

Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, with an elevation of 880 metres (2,890 ft) is located between the villages of Eiði, Gjógv, and Funningur.[5][6]

History

The village of Eiði is first mentioned in texts in the 14th century, but carbon dating suggests that Norsemen founded the settlement already in the 9th century. The area of the modern Eiði Municipality came under Norðoya Prestagjalds Municipality in 1872 where the prestegjeld municipalities were founded. In 1879 the locals of Eiði showed interest in becoming an independent municipality, which happened in 1894. The first mayor of the new municipality became Grækaris Joensen. In 1943 the municipality was divided, with three of the municipality's six villages forming their own municipality: Sunda Municipality. This officially went into effect on 1 January 1944. The borders of the new Eiði Municipality has remained unchanged since then.[7]

Settlements

Eiði Municipality consists of three villages. These villages are listed in the table below, with populations from January 2021.[1]

Eiði712
Svínáir44
Ljósá34

Eiði

View of Eiði

Eiði is the seat of the municipality, located in the northern part of the municipality, south of the Niðara Vatn lake and north west of Lake Eiði. Eiði borders the Sundini sound to the south. The southern parts of Eiði mainly consists of an industrial fishery harbour. North of the harbour is Eiði Church and the associated cemetery. The central parts of Eiði consists of mainly residential buildings, with a few facilities. Among these facilities is a local history museum and a school. The school was built 1965. North of the village is a discontinued football field, now used by Eiði Camping as camping ground.[8]

Located just east of Eiði is the LORAN-C transmitter Ejde. It was an important station for submarine navigation during the Cold War, and in the 1960s the number of employees at the station were at 32. Today there are 2 employees at the station, and although the American support for the station was stopped in 1994, it is still in use.[9][10]

Nature

Lake Eiði

Lake Eiði (Faroese: Eiðisvatn) is the fifth largest lake in the Faroe Islands. The Breiðá river goes out from the lake and into the ocean. The lake is a popular fishing spot, home to fish such as sea trout, charr, river trout and rainbow trout. The black-legged kittiwake is common around the lake.[11][12]

The Slættaratindur is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, located east of the village of Eiði. The mountain is 880 meters tall.[13]

Politics

The municipality's municipal council consists of seven municipal councillors, elected every four years. The municipal council has five political committees.[14]

From 1894 and until 1975 the municipal council consisted of five members. Since 1975 it has consisted of seven members.[15]

Mayors

Since the municipality was founded in 1894, the mayors of Eiði Municipality have been:[16]

# Mayor Term
1Grækaris Joensen1894—1897
2Jens Jørgen Kruse1897—1900
3Heini Nygaard1900—1903
4Sámal Samuelsen1903—1910
5Johannes Hans Petersen1910—1912
6Christian J. Christiansen1912—1914
7Oliver Øster1914—1918
8Anthon Ellingsgaard1918—1922
9Jóannes Mørkøre1922—1930
10Hans Poulsen1931—1934
11Óli Joensen1935—1938
12Poul Vesturdal1939—1942
13Jens Arni Kruse1943—1943
14Símun Elias Kristiansen1944—1946
# Mayor Term
15Jóhannes Vesturtún1947—1950
16Mourits Olsen1951—1954
17Eivind Kruse1955—1958
18Johan Kruse1959—1962
19Óli Ellingsgaard1963—1970
20Jógvan K. Mørkøre1971—1976
21Petur Joensen1977—1980
22Rasmus A. Joensen1981—1984
23Regin Ellingsgaard1985—1988
24Hans J. í Kollsbyrgi1989—2000
25Tordur Niclasen2001—2008
26Rólant Poulsen2009—2012
27Jógvan í Skorini2013—2020
28Rógvi Egilstoft2021—present

Energy

Eiði power plant is a hydroelectric power plant, located at Lake Eiði. It is the largest of is kind on the Faroe Islands. The power plant is owned by SEV. The first turbine of the plant was started on April 28, 1987 and expansions were made in 1997 and 2000.[17]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1945629—    
1950591−6.0%
1955580−1.9%
1960620+6.9%
1966587−5.3%
1970583−0.7%
1977581−0.3%
1985620+6.7%
1990717+15.6%
1995631−12.0%
2000687+8.9%
2005718+4.5%
2010663−7.7%
2015686+3.5%
2020763+11.2%
2021767+0.5%
Source: Statbank.hagstova.fo

There are 767 people living in Eiði Municipality (2021). 54.63% are men and 45.37% are women.[1]

Below is the age distribution of the municipality.

Age

  0–5 (8.21%)
  6–17 (14.99%)
  18–35 (22.69%)
  36–64 (36.38%)
  64+ (17.73%)

Education

Eiði School (Faroese: Eiðis skúli) is located in the western part of the village of Eiði. The school goes up to 7th grade, with students transferring to Streymin School (Faroese: Skúlin við Streymin) in Oyrarbakki for 8th, 9th and 10th grade. The municipality also has a kindergarten, which opened in 2008.[18]

Sights

Eiði Church

The municipality's small size means that there are few attractions. The village of Eiði does have a local history museum. This museum is called Látrið, and it is located centrally in Eiði, set in a restored farmhouse from 1840.[19] Also located in Eiði is Eiði Church, located centrally in the village. It was founded on September 18, 1881 and was designed in 1879 by Danish architect Hans Christian Amberg.[20]

Sport

The main football club in Eiði Municipality was Eiðis Bóltfelag, established in 1913,[21] but it merged with Streymur Hvalvik in 1993 to form EB/Streymur. The club's home ground is based in Streymnes.[22]

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "IB01030 Population by sex, age, village/city and month(1985-2021)". Statbank.hagstova.fo. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Practical Information - Eiðis kommuna". eidi.fo. n.d. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bygdaráðslimir". Eidi.fo. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "Eiðisverkið". SEV. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Slættaratindur 880 metrar" (in Danish). Nam.fo. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Google (15 September 2016). "Eiði Municipality" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "History". Eidi.fo. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Eiði". Faroeislands.dk. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Loran-C i Eiði". Slks.dk. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Loran Station Ejde". Loran-history.info. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Leynavatn & Eiðisvatn - FDC m/enkeltmærker". Dk.stamps.fo. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Fishing". Faroeincoming.com. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Slættaratindur". Visitfaroeislands.com. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Nevndir". Eidi.fo. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  15. ↑ "Eldri bygdaráð". Eidi.fo. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Bygdaráðsformenn 1894-2009". Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "History". Sev.fo. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Kindergarden [sic]/Schooling". Eidi. 12 August 2021. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  19. ↑ "Látrið, local history museum in Eiði". Visitrunavik.fo. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  20. ↑ "Eiði Kirkja". Danske-kirker.dk. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "Eiðis Bóltfelag 100 ár – Tey máttu byrja heilt umaftur (3)" (in Danish). Hvannrok.fo. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "EB/Streymur" (in Danish). Uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
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