Eiði Municipality
Eiði Municipality
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Eiði Municipality

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Eiði Municipality

Eiði Municipality (Faroese: Eiðis kommuna) is a municipality of the Faroe Islands. It is part of the Eysturoy region, and consists of a northwesterly part of the Eysturoy island. The municipality borders Runavík Municipality to the east and Sunda Municipality to the south and east. The population of the municipality is 777 ( Sep.2024). Since January 1st 2025 the Mayor of the municipality is Jógvan í Skorini, who was also the mayor in 2013-2020. The municipal council consists of seven members elected every four years.

The municipality contains Lake Eiði, which is situated between Eiði and Ljósá on the northwest side of Eysturoy. The Breiðá River flows nearby. Eiði power plant, the largest hydroelectric power station in the Faroe Islands, lies on the lake. The power plant opened in 1987, and is owned by the power producer and distributor SEV. A 100 metres (330 ft) long pipe, capable of holding some 17,000,000 m³ of water, feeds the plant, running from a tunnel leading up a nearby mountain.

Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, with an elevation of 880 metres (2,890 ft) is located between the villages of Eiði, Gjógv, and Funningur.

The village of Eiði is first mentioned in texts in the 14th century, but carbon dating suggests that Norsemen founded the settlement in the 10th century. The area of the modern Eiði Municipality came under Norðoya Prestagjalds Municipality in 1872 where the prestegjeld municipalities were founded. In 1879 the locals of Eiði showed interest in becoming an independent municipality, which happened in 1894. The first mayor of the new municipality became Grækaris Joensen. In 1943 the municipality was divided, with three of the municipality's six villages forming their own municipality: Sunda Municipality. This officially went into effect on 1 January 1944. The borders of the new Eiði Municipality has remained unchanged since then.

Eiði Municipality consists of three villages. These villages are listed in the table below, with populations from January 2021.

Eiði is the seat of the municipality, located in the northern part of the municipality, south of the Niðara Vatn lake and north west of Lake Eiði. Eiði borders the Sundini sound to the south. The southern parts of Eiði mainly consists of an industrial fishery harbour. North of the harbour is Eiði Church and the associated cemetery. The central parts of Eiði consists of mainly residential buildings, with a few facilities. Among these facilities is a local history museum and a school. The school was built 1965. North of the village is a discontinued football field, now used by Eiði Camping as camping ground.

Located just east of Eiði is the LORAN-C transmitter Ejde. It was an important station for submarine navigation during the Cold War, and in the 1960s the number of employees at the station were at 32. Today there are 2 employees at the station, and although the American support for the station was stopped in 1994, it is still in use.

Lake Eiði (Faroese: Eiðisvatn) is the fifth largest lake in the Faroe Islands. The Breiðá river goes out from the lake and into the ocean. The lake is a popular fishing spot, home to fish such as sea trout, charr, river trout and rainbow trout. The black-legged kittiwake is common around the lake.

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