Fur (alternative older spelling: Fuur) is a Danish island in the Limfjord. It is located just north of Salling

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

Skive municipality Skive Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Mid Jutland Region on Salling Peninsula, a part of the larger Jutland Peninsula in northwest Denmark. It covers an area of 688.09 km2 (2013) and has a population of 44,328 ( ...

. As of 2025, the island covers an area of 21.8 km² and has a total population of 732. The village of Nederby is the largest town on the island. The island is linked to the mainland through a 24-hour ferry, the Sleipner-Fur ferry, sailing from Branden. The crossing of the Fur Strait takes 3–4 minutes. In 2010, readers of the Danish

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Kristeligt Dagblad ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' is a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen. The paper was founded in 1896 and is still circulation in the 2000s. It was founded with a Christian orientation. History and profile ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' was established in 1896. It ...

'' voted for Fur as "Denmark's most wonderful island", ahead of

Læsø Læsø ("Isle of Ægir, Hlér") is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Denmark, Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality (Danish language, D ...

and

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Denmark, Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Region of Southern Denmark, Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 all of Ærø has constituted a single Municipalities of Denmark, municipality, known as Ærø M ...

Geography

The island constitutes a unique geological formation within the region, called the

Fur Formation The Fur Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian ( Lower Eocene Epoch, c. 56.0-54.5 Ma) age which crops out in the Limfjord region of northern Denmark from Silstrup via Mors and Fur to Ertebølle, and can be seen in many cliffs and ...

. It is renowned for its deposits of ''moler'', which consist of 1/3

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and 2/3

diatomite Diatomaceous earth ( ), also known as diatomite ( ), celite, or kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 ...

. There exists two factories on Fur processing ''moler''.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

hunting is a popular activity on the island, and the fossils one can find in the ''moler'' can be more than 55 million years old. The Fur Museum on the island features exhibits relating to the

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

of the island, particularly fossils which have been found there and ''moler.'' It opened in 1953. Fur was originally rich in

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

, but as agriculture gradually required more space, the trees were cut down. In 1627, the last remnant of the original forest died and it was not until the end of the 1800s that forests were again established on the island. Forest area account for 14% of Fur's total area and especially the northern part of the island is forested.

Wildlife

Fur currently has a population of around 200 roe deer, which originate from seven animals that were released on the island in 1965 and 1966. The animals came from Egeskov Castle on

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. There are also other animals, such as

rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

, hedgehogs, stoats and more.

Gallery

File:Fur cliffs.jpg, Cliffs on the island's coastline File:Fur geological layers.jpg, Image showing the distinct geological layers File:Fur layers 2.jpg, An inland location File:Rødsten, Fur 2024 b.jpg, Red sandstone File:Knudeklinten.JPG, Coastal cliff

References

External links

Fursund turistinformation
(in English)
Fur Museum - The local museum

News about Fur - FurNyt
{{Denmark islands Islands in the Limfjord Islands of Denmark Skive Municipality

Geography

Wildlife

Gallery

See also

References

External links