FOGO ISLAND: Located on the northeast coast, northwest of Musgrave Harbour across Hamilton Sound, Fogo is the considered to be largest of the offshore islands of province. It is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) long and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide.

The total area is some where between 237.71 km2 (91.78 mi2) (Wikipedia, 2020) and 254 km2 depending on which reference site you cite (Canadian Encyclopedia, 2014).

The islands population in 2016 was recorded as being 2,244. According to Wikipedia contributors, Fogo Island is one of the oldest named features on the coast of Newfoundland.

On the 1606 Bertius map, mentioned earlier, Fogo Island is shown as one of only dozen or so important features around the coast of Newfoundland. French maps dating back to the 16th to 18th centuries, the island is shown as Ile des Fougues (Fiery Island).

On the Cook and Lane map of 1775, it is marked as I. Fogo. As mentioned previously, it is believed that the island was named y do fogo ("fire island"), by Portuguese explorers and early fishermen as far back as the 16th Century.
For further information on Fogo Island and the Town of Fogo, please see the section on Irish Settlements. Looking at a map of Fogo Island, on the north east corner you will see the community of Barr'd Islands.

In this case "Islands" does not refer to a set of islands, but rather it is the name of the second oldest on Fogo Island. As in the case of Barr'd Harbour, as mentioned before, Barr'd Islands permanent settlement takes it name for the offshore reefs that help to form the harbour.

"Next door" to Fogo Island, to the west are the Change Islands.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/FogoIsland