Stóra Dímun ( da, Stor Dímun) is an island in the southern

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 ...

, sometimes only referred to as Dímun. It is accessible by sea only during periods of clear and calm weather, but there is a regular helicopter service twice a week all year. There is a lighthouse on the island.

Etymology

The name 'Stóra Dímun' means 'Great Dimun', in contrast to '

Lítla Dímun Lítla Dímun is a small, uninhabited island between the islands of Suðuroy and Stóra Dímun in the Faroe Islands. It is the smallest of the main 18 islands, being less than a square kilometre (247 acres) in area, and is the only uninhabited ...

' or 'Little Dimun'. According to the Faroese placename expert Jakobsen, 'Dimun' may represent a pre-Norse, Celtic placename element, with 'di' representing 'two'. Stora and Litla Dímun shows a pairing of two distinctive but separate localities in one name. Gammeltoft concluded Dímun is a Scandinavian place name for a double-peaked feature of a particular appearance, reflecting a linguistic contact between Scandinavians and Gaels.

Population

Before 1920, the ruins of an old

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

were present, but these no longer exist. There are two peaks on Stóra Dímun: Høgoyggj (396 metres; 1300') and Klettarnir (308 metres; 1010'). The island was once home to many families from the 13th century onwards, but now only two families of seven make their home on the island.

The Farm

There is only one farm at the Southside of the island, and it constitutes its only settlement. The farm benefits from soil that has been fertilized by the guano of millions of seabirds for thousands of years. This gives excellent grazing for th
450 ewes
that the island supports. The farm is famed for their

turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ...

s and sheepskin, of which they produce some 300-400 each year. Six to eight calves are slaughtered every year. There is some tourism during the summer months.

Important bird area

The island 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 (15,000 pairs), Atlantic puffins (40,000 pairs) and black guillemots (50 pairs).BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Stóra Dímun. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-24.

Gallery

File:Faroe_stamp_475_stora_dimun.jpg, Aerial view of Stóra Dímun
Stamp FO 475 of Postverk Føroya
Issued: 16 Jan 2004 File:Faroe_stamp_490_coast_of_stora_dimun.jpg, Coast of Stóra Dímun
Stamp FO 490 of

Postverk Føroya Posta is the postal service of the Faroe Islands and was founded on 1 April 1976 under the Home Rule of the Faroe Islands. On 16 December 2005, it became a public joint stock company under the name P/F Postverk Føroya (retroactive from 1 Januar ...

Issued: 2004 File:Stora_dimun_farm.jpg, The farm on the remote island of Stóra Dímun File:Stora_dimun_puffins_colony.jpg, Puffins (''Fratercula arctica'') on Stóra Dímun

References

Secondary sources

External links

*
Personal website
with aerial photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Stora Dimun Islands of the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands Populated places in the Faroe Islands