Mykines

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Position of Mykines island
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Position of Mykines island
For other uses, see Mykines (disambiguation).

Mykines is the western-most of the main 18 islands in the Faroe Islands. There is one settlement on the island: Mykines.

There are two mountains on the island: Knúkur (560 m) and Árnafjall (350 m). There are large numbers of puffin and gannet on the island. There are also many birds located on Mykineshólmur, a small islet to the immediate west of Mykines. There is a footbridge over the 35 m gorge Hólmgjógv linking the two islands.

It has been suggested that the name is actually pre-Norse in origin, coming from muc-innis, a Celtic term for pig island. This maybe a reference to whales who are known as muc-mhara (Sea sows) in Gaelic.

Mykines seen from the east (Sørvágur) in October
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Mykines seen from the east (Sørvágur) in October
Map of Mykines
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Map of Mykines

[edit] Population progression

Progression of the population of Mykines since 1769:

Year Population
1769 61
1870 114
1890 154
1925 179
1940 170
2004 11

[edit] External links

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Islands of the Faroe Islands
Flag of the Faroe Islands

Borðoy | Eysturoy | Fugloy | Hestur | Kalsoy | Koltur | Kunoy | Lítla Dímun | Mykines | Nólsoy | Sandoy | Skúvoy | Stóra Dímun | Streymoy | Suðuroy | Svínoy | Vágar | Viðoy