Map - Sumba, Faroe Islands (Sunnbøur)

Sumba is the southernmost village of the Faroe Islands, located on the island of Suðuroy. It is located in Sumbiar Municipality.

The municipality has 354 inhabitants (as of April 2022). 252 of these people live in Sumba. The other villages in the Municipality of Sumba are: Lopra (89 inhabitants), Akrar (14 inhabitants), and formerly Víkarbyrgi (0 inhabitants).

Sumba is known for several things, including the high bird cliff of Beinisvørð and the local practice of Faroese chain dancing. They are very good dancers and have a long tradition for singing long songs along with the chain dance. Poul F. Joensen (born 1898 - died 1970) is one of the most famous Faroese poets; he was born in Sumba and grew up there. Later he got married and moved to Froðba.

Residents of the village are known as Sumbingar. The name Sumba or Sunnba is from the old name of the village which was Sunnbø/ba or Sunnbøur which means the southernmost village, but over the years misspellings by Danish rulers have led to the name Sumba. High mountains separate the village from the other settlements of the island. The village lies on the west coast as the only one on the island except from Fámjin. Sumba is said to be one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands. Excavations have shown traces from people from the 7th century. Sumba is an impressive village in its natural setting. The church in Sumba dates from 1887.

Sumba lies behind high mountains and it used to be difficult to reach in wintertime when the storms raged, but now there is a tunnel, which makes all transport much easier. Just outside the coast of Sumba is the islet of Sumbiarhólmur. In summertime men from Sumba take 7 or 8 rams out on the islet and collect them again in September. The rams gain much weight when they are grazing on Sumbiarhólmur, up to 30 pounds, and the meat gets much tastier according to the people from Sumba. In 1997 a tunnel was bored through the mountains from Lopra to Sumba. This makes life easier for people in Sumba who work in Vágur or Tvøroyri.

South of Sumba, just above the village of Lopra, visitors encounter a fork in the road. One way leads to the old, but passable mountain road to Sumba, the other leads to the long tunnel through the mountain, which is the more direct route to Sumba. Visitors who take the mountain road can stop near the birds' cliff of Beinisvørð, which rises vertically 470 metres above the sea. From the top, there are views over the sea, rocks and sea stacks far below. It is possible to climb Beinisvørð from the rear of the cliffs even if it is pretty steep. In 1975 a part of the top of Beinisvørð fell into the sea. The people from Sumba used to catch birds on Beinisvørð; some men have lost their lives because of it.