Demographics of the Faroe Islands
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This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Faroe Islands, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The vast majority of the population are ethnic Faroese, of Norse descent. Ethnic Faroese are (in enetic terms) the most homogenous folk.
Recent DNA analysis have revealed that Y chromosomes, tracing male descent, are 87% Scandinavian. The origin of the isolated population of the Faroe Islands investigated using Y chromosomal markers. The studies show that mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, is 84% British. Of the approximately 48,000 inhabitants of the Faroe Islands (16,921 private households (2004)), 98% are realm citizens, meaning Faroese, Danish, or Greenlandic. By birthplace one can derive the following origins of the inhabitants: born on the Faroes 91.7%, in Denmark 5.8%, and in Greenland 0.3%. The largest group of foreigners are Icelanders comprising 0.4% of the population, followed by Norwegians and Polish, each comprising 0.2%. Altogether, on the Faroe Islands there are people from 77 different nationalities. The Faroe Islands have the highest rate of adoption in the world, despite a relatively high birth rate of 2.6 children. [1]
Faroese is spoken in the entire country as a first language. It is not possible to say exactly how many people worldwide speak the Faroese language. This is for two reasons: Firstly, many ethnic Faroese live in Denmark and few who are born there return to the Faroes with their parents or as adults. Secondly, there are some established Danish families on the Faroes who speak Danish at home.
The Faroese language is one of the smallest of the Germanic languages. It is most similar to Icelandic and Old Norse. In the twentieth century Faroese became the official language and since the Faroes are a part of the Danish realm Danish is taught in schools as a compulsory second language.
Faroese language policy provides for the active creation of new terms in Faroese suitable for modern life.
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[edit] CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
[edit] Population
48,856 (July 2009 est.)
[edit] Age structure
0-14 years: 21,6% (male 5,451; female 5,108)
15-64 years: 64% (male 16,708; female 14,544)
65 years and over: 14,4% (male 3,324; female 3,721) (2009 est.)
[edit] Population growth rate
0.397% (2009 est.)
[edit] Birth rate
13.04 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
[edit] Death rate
8.66 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
[edit] Net migration rate
-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
[edit] Sex ratio
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.09 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
[edit] Infant mortality rate
6.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
[edit] Life expectancy at birth
total population: 79.44 years
male: 77 years
female: 82.05 years (2009 est.)
[edit] Total fertility rate
2.44 children born/woman (2009 est.)
[edit] Nationality
noun: Faroese (singular and plural)
adjective: Faroese
[edit] Ethnic groups
Faroese (mixed Scandinavian - British)
[edit] Religions
[edit] Languages
Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish
[edit] Literacy
definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA%
note: similar to Denmark proper
| Name | Area | Inhabitants | People per km² | Main places | Regions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streymoy | 373.5 | 21,717 | 57.4 | Tórshavn and Vestmanna | Tórshavn and rest of Streymoy |
| Eysturoy | 286.3 | 10,738 | 37 | Fuglafjørður and Runavík | North Eysturoy and South Eysturoy |
| Vágar | 177.6 | 2,856 | 15.7 | Míðvágur and Sørvágur | Vágar |
| Suðuroy | 166 | 5,074 | 30.9 | Tvøroyri and Vágur | Suðuroy |
| Sandoy | 112.1 | 1,428 | 12.4 | Sandur | Sandoy |
| Borðoy | 95 | 5,030 | 52.4 | Klaksvík | Klaksvík and rest of northern Faroes (Norðoyar) |
| Viðoy | 41 | 605 | 15 | Viðareiði | Norðoyar |
| Kunoy | 35.5 | 135 | 3.8 | Kunoy | Norðoyar |
| Kalsoy | 30.9 | 136 | 4.8 | Mikladalur and Húsar | Norðoyar |
| Svínoy | 27.4 | 58 | 2.7 | Svínoy | Norðoyar |
| Fugloy | 11.2 | 46 | 4 | Kirkja | Norðoyar |
| Nólsoy | 10.3 | 262 | 26.1 | Nólsoy | Streymoy |
| Mykines | 10.3 | 19 | 2 | Mykines | Vágar |
| Skúvoy | 10 | 61 | 5.7 | Skúvoy | Sandoy |
| Hestur | 6.1 | 40 | 7.1 | Hestur | Streymoy |
| Stóra Dímun | 2.7 | 7 | 1.9 | Dímun | Sandoy |
| Koltur | 2.5 | 2 | 0.8 | Koltur | Streymoy |
| Lítla Dímun | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | – | Sandoy |
