Skopun

Although the area has been inhabited since the Middle Ages, Skopun was not founded until 1833.[2] The people of Skopun did not possess any land. They subsisted on fishing, so the houses were built close to the water.

In 1897, Skopun's church was constructed out of timber taken from the old church of Vestmanna. The Faroe Islands' first road was built on Sandoy in 1917,[3] as part of a government-financed plan to improve the island's non-existent harbour facilities. It connects Skopun with Sandur, the island's main town. Skopun's harbour was built in 1926 and later extended. In 1982, the harbour was furnished with a gate which protects the dock from the sea. A 1988 hurricane destroyed the town's small wood.

A car ferry used to connect Skopun with the capital, Tórshavn. Today, the ferry goes to the newly constructed port of Gamlarætt, located on the south-west coast of Streymoy.

The first part of the place name comes from skopa, a bowl shaped vessel for bailing water out of a boat (better known as an eyskar), and the un by a shortening of havn (haven or port). The Danish Skopen appeared on three cancellers between 1908 and 1962 and Skopun has been in use since. The word skopa as defined seems to be uniquely Faroese, although a similar-sounding skota was the word for a bailing vessel in northeast Iceland (also called austurskota).[4]

• Peter Mohr Dam, prime minister
• Gerhard Lognberg, politician
• Niels Winther Poulsen, educator and politician
• Sakaris Stórá, film director

• List of towns in the Faroe Islands
• Skopunarfjørður

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  The village of Skopun
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  View over Skopun
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  View from Skopun northwards over the Skopunarfjørður to Hestur
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  The ferry "Teistin", connecting Skopun on Sandoy with Gamlarætt on Streymoy.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skopun.

• Skopun, information and pictures on Faroe Islands.dk
• Maps, airports, & weather on Skopun, Faeroe Islands Page

61°54′45″N 6°52′19″W