Hvalba

Hvalba (Danish: Kvalbø) is a village and a municipality in the Faroe Islands, which consists of Hvalba, Nes-Hvalba and Sandvík.

The village spreads around the bottom of a deep inlet, Hvalbiarfjørður, in the northeast of Suðuroy.

Population

Hvalba is one of the larger villages in the Faroe Islands. The total population of Hvalba Municipality (Hvalbiar Kommuna) was 674 as of March 2022; the population of Hvalba and Nes was 607 and the population of Sandvík was 67.^[3] The small village Nes is often called Nes-Hvalba, because there are two other villages with the same name. Nes is located on the southern arm of the fjord Hvalbiarfjørður, opposite of Hvalba. Nes does not have its own postal code. Hvalba has one supermarket, a fast food shop and a few more shops.^[4] Some of the villagers work as coalminers; Hvalba is the only place in the Faroes which still has active coal mine industry, although in very small scale. There are two harbours and some fish factories in Hvalba, both harbours are on the northern side of the bay. There is a boat harbour in Nes and a small harbour in Sandvík. The municipality plans to make a new marina between the two harbours on a place which is called Á Hamranesi.^[5] Some trawlers belong to the village, they deliver fish for the fish factory. Some people work in other villages i.e. at the Suduroy Hospital in Tvøroyri^[6] or at the Faroe Islands Ferry and Buss Transportation Company including the ferry Smyril, which sails between Suðuroy and Tórshavn,^[7] but there are also a few independent small companies in Hvalba, i.e. IT supporters, carpenters, transport company, dietitian, internet shop etc.^[8] Hvalba is located on the east side of the island but the inlet is so deep that the distance to the west coast is quite short, so the island almost splits into two islands. There are two isthmuses in Hvalba: Hvalbiareiði (also called Fiskieiði) and Norðbergseiði (also called Á Drátti). There is a memorial in Hvalba, it is located on the northern side of the fjord, just before one comes to the first harbour, not far from the bottom of the bay. The memorial is made of stone, the stonework was made by Lars and Helmut Larsen from Tórshavn, it was raised in 1963 in memory of people from Hvalba who lost their lives at sea or by other accidents, i.e. by accidents in the coal mines or by falling down from the island Lítla Dímun or from one of the mountains which surround the village.

Connected by tunnels

Two tunnels connect Hvalba to its neighbouring villages. The southbound Hvalbiartunnilin (1450 m) leads to Trongisvágur and Tvøroyri. The northbound Sandvíkartunnilin (1500 m) leads to Sandvík.^[9] Construction of a new tunnel to Trongisvágur started in 2019, and was opened to traffic in 2021, whereupon the old tunnel was closed.^[10]

Hvalbiareiði and Norðbergseiði

On the west coast there is a place of call that makes it possible to go fishing in small boats from both sides of the island. The place has two names; it is called

Pirates ravaged Hvalba, as other villages on Suðuroy, in the 17th century. In 1629 three North-African pirate ships attacked the village. When they left the village after the ravage two of the ships ran aground on some rocks and were shattered by the surf. Tradition says that more than 300 bodies washed ashore. By the shore, there is a place called ‘Turkargravir’. Here all the bodies were buried. 30 women and children were taken away to be sold as slaves in North Africa. On the Faroe Islands, a collection was organized to raise enough money to buy back the people. This was not successful and the people never returned to the islands.

Sports

The local football team is Royn Hvalba (Bóltfelagið Royn).

Gallery

• 
  Hvalbiarfjørður, Lítla Dímun island in the background.
• 
  Sunset in Hvalba, seen from the sea.
• 
  Nes at Hvalba at noon
• 
  The coalmines south of Hvalba
• 
  Norðbergseiði, the northern eidi of Hvalba.
• 
  Hvalbiareiði, the southern eidi of Hvalba and Grímsfjall (mountain).
• 
  The sandy beach of Hvalba.
• 
  The sandy beach of Nes at Hvalba, view to Stóra Dímun (island).
• 
  Memorial in Hvalba in memory of people lost at sea and people who died in other accidents i.e. in the coal mines and by falling down from Lítla Dímun or a cliff near Hvalba.
• 
  Prestfjall (mountain) and Hvalba.

See also

• List of towns in the Faroe Islands

References

External links

• Faroeislands.dk: Hvalba Images and description of all cities on the Faroe Islands.
• The Municipality of Hvalba
• Photos on Flickr tagged with Hvalba
• Website of Lítla Dímun Archived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hvalba.