Koltur

Koltur
Island
Koltur, as seen from Streymoy
Location within the Faroe Islands
Coordinates: 61°59′N 6°58′W / 61.983°N 6.967°W / 61.983; -6.967Coordinates: 61°59′N 6°58′W / 61.983°N 6.967°W / 61.983; -6.967
State	Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country	Faroe Islands
Municipality seat	Tórshavnar kommuna
Area
• Total	2.8 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Area rank	17
Highest elevation	478 m (1,568 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	2
• Rank	17
• Density	0.71/km2 (1.8/sq mi)
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	EST (UTC+1)
Calling code	298
Climate	Cfc

Koltur (Danish: Kolter) is an island in the Faroe Islands, located to the west of Streymoy and to the north of Hestur. The island has just one settlement, Koltur. It was abandoned in the 1980s by the sheep-farmers whose flocks grazed on the southern part of the island. Since then only two people have returned (in 1994). Koltur has two mountains, Kolturshamar (478 m) and Fjallið (101m) which strictly speaking is not a mountain, the name however translates directly as "The Mountain" and is considered by many as the smallest mountain in the country.

The island supports 160 adult sheep.

Archaeological excavations have found that barley has been cultivated on the island as far back as 800-900AD, in the early Viking age. And it has been cultivated up to near modern times, straw from Koltur was considered the best for thatching, as there are no mice in the island to diminish the quality of the straw.

There have been two settlements on the islands, Heima í Húsi and Norðuri í Gerði. There is a story that the two families who lived there couldn't agree to anything and never helped each other with anything, this went on for generations and in the end, it was forgotten what the original argument was about. Though the place-name Trætumørkin, hints at the argument being about a parcel of land.

All peat for fuel, had to be cut at Syðradal and Fossdal on Streymoy or later in Skopun, Sandoy, and then transported by boat back to Koltur where it was stored in houses at Gróthústanga.

Heima í Húsi is the older settlement, and it contains two farms, Niðri í Húsi and Uppi í Búð, and it is thought it is the original settlement on the island. The buildings are remarkably well preserved, although they have had running reparations through the centuries there has been very little modernization compared to the rest of the country, and thus give a great insight into how people have lived in the past.

Norðuri í Gerði is a younger settlement, but the old buildings here are in much worse condition, though in Jarðarbókini from 1584 it is established that this settlement already is built by then. This is the location of the only inhabited house today.