Demographics of the Faroe Islands

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Demographic features of the population of the Faroe Islands include 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 North Germanic descent. Ethnic Faroese are, in genetic terms, among the most homogenous groups ever found. [1]

Contents

Demographics of the Faroe Islands, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands. Faroe-islands-demography.png
Demographics of the Faroe Islands, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

A 2004 DNA analysis revealed that Y chromosomes, tracing male descent, are 87% Scandinavian. [2] The studies show that mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, is 84% Scottish/Irish. [3]

Of the approximately 48,000 inhabitants of the Faroe Islands (16,921 private households (2004)), 98% are Danish 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 Poles, 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 fertility rate of 2.6 children (while 2.6 may sound high it is still quite low, for comparison Sub-Saharan Africa has a rate of 4.53 in 2022) . [4]

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.

The 2011 census, called Manntal, shows that 10% were not born in the Faroe Islands, but of these only 3% were born outside the Kingdom of Denmark. 6.5% of people older than 15 did not speak Faroese as their mother tongue. 33 persons said that they did not understand Faroese at all. [5] According to the 2011 census, 45 361 Faroese people (people living in the Faroes) spoke Faroese as their first language and 1546 spoke Danish as their first language.

Vital statistics since 1900

[6] [7] Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total Fertility Rate
190015,00045523322230.315.514.8
190115,30045722822929.914.915.0
190215,60050221728532.213.918.3
190315,90043519923627.412.514.8
190416,20048923425530.214.415.7
190516,50049829620230.217.912.2
190616,70049322926429.513.715.8
190717,00047919628328.211.516.6
190817,30057618239433.310.522.8
190917,60052819633230.011.118.9
191017,90057615741932.28.823.4
191118,20055916439530.79.021.7
191218,60062418444033.59.923.7
191318,90065016948134.48.925.4
191419,20058018239830.29.520.7
191519,60064328835532.814.718.1
191619,90063626137532.013.118.8
191720,20057024033028.211.916.3
191820,60062519942630.39.720.7
191920,90060722138629.010.618.5
192021,20066522743831.410.720.7
192121,50061423038428.610.717.9
192221,80066821145730.69.721.0
192322,10065225539729.511.518.0
192422,40063126836328.212.016.2
192522,70059922837126.410.016.3
192623,00059219939325.78.717.1
192723,30057915742224.86.718.1
192823,60062019442626.38.218.1
192923,90057525332224.110.613.5
193024,20063327336026.211.314.9
193124,50060723936824.89.815.0
193224,70060421039424.58.516.0
193325,00054524829721.89.911.9
193425,30057823134722.89.113.7
193525,60058526931622.910.512.3
193625,90056526530021.810.211.6
193726,20061521240323.58.115.4
193826,60061724137623.29.114.1
193926,90057718239521.46.814.7
194027,30069822847025.68.417.2
194127,60069028640425.010.414.6
194228,00072125047125.88.916.8
194328,30080423556928.48.320.1
194428,70073224748525.58.616.9
194529,00071824747124.88.516.2
194629,00070824846024.48.615.9
194730,00074224250024.78.116.7
194830,00082122759527.47.619.8
194931,00087625662628.38.320.2
195031,00085628258527.69.118.9
195131,00085722962827.67.420.3
195232,00080924056925.37.517.8
195333,00075822853023.06.916.1
195433,00075724850922.97.515.4
195532,00074922152823.46.916.5
195633,00076723952823.27.216.0
195733,00074626847822.68.114.5
195834,00084522661924.96.618.2
195934,00085624261425.27.118.1
196034,00076427449022.58.114.4
196135,00078120657522.35.916.4
196236,00080023456622.26.515.7
196336,00084824260623.66.716.8
196436,00085725360423.87.016.8
196537,00088926162824.07.117.0
196637,00096926270726.27.119.1
196738,00095628966725.27.617.6
196838,00087826261623.16.916.2
196938,30084326957422.07.015.0
197038,70081428752721.07.413.63.42
197138,70077930847120.18.012.23.22
197238,90079826753120.56.913.73.26
197339,40080830350520.57.712.83.22
197440,10079830349519.97.612.33.07
197540,80078128050119.16.912.32.90
197641,30075629146518.37.011.32.74
197741,80075927148818.26.511.72.68
197842,40074230343917.57.110.42.60
197943,00079026952118.46.312.12.70
198043,40074130943217.17.110.02.46
198143,80075329346017.26.710.52.47
198244,20072631641016.47.19.32.35
198344,50068836132715.58.17.42.16
198445,00069535034515.47.87.62.17
198545,50074034040016.37.58.82.288
198646,00079137042117.28.19.12.410
198746,60078237241016.88.08.82.358
198847,30087042444618.49.09.42.572
198947,70093237455819.57.811.72.706
199047,60094735958819.97.512.42.796
199147,40086639846818.38.49.92.624
199247,10080940040917.28.58.72.521
199346,10076238537716.68.48.22.509
199444,50066735431315.08.07.02.392
199543,60064436527914.88.46.42.455
199643,60067539528015.59.16.42.586
199744,00066537728815.18.66.52.515
199844,50062537724814.08.55.52.336
199945,10062640122513.98.95.02.325
200046,02269235433815.17.77.42.586
200146,86763236027213.67.75.92.337
200247,55870939231715.08.36.72.557
200348,11870540530014.78.56.22.541
200448,30171338033314.87.96.92.594
200548,10671141729414.78.66.12.639
200648,26966241724513.78.75.02.504
200748,31167538129414.07.96.12.567
200848,63766738328413.87.95.92.581
200948,53061438622812.68.04.62.383
201048,48964234929313.27.26.02.515
201148,25658138519612.08.04.02.312
201248,03061940821112.98.54.42.571
201348,12662636426213.07.65.42.546
201448,59163939424513.28.15.12.577
201549,10060837723112.47.74.72.428
201649,79667537929613.67.75.92.639
201750,46665644720913.18.94.22.493
201851,27968439429013.47.75.72.512
201952,11168341127213.28.05.22.434
202052,92567836631212.97.05.92.350
202153,67668342925412.88.14.72.325
202254,20063148714411.69.02.62.071
202354,32057740617110.67.53.11.859
Faroe Islands population pyramid (2018).jpg

Current vital statistics

[8]

PeriodLive birthsDeathsNatural increase
January–November 2023535377+158
January–November 2024530393+137
DifferenceDecrease2.svg -5 (-0.93%)Increase Negative.svg +16 (+4.24%)Decrease2.svg -21

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021): [9]
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total27 63125 75253 383100
0–41 8691 8223 6916.91
5–91 8641 7563 6206.78
10–141 8471 8293 6766.89
15–191 9521 7583 7106.95
20–241 7581 4353 1935.98
25–291 5941 3792 9735.57
30–341 8161 6813 4976.55
35–391 6611 4623 1235.85
40–441 7141 5523 2666.12
45–491 8281 5153 3436.26
50–541 7931 6153 4086.38
55–591 7701 6223 3926.35
60–641 5321 4973 0295.67
65–691 3731 3012 6745.01
70–741 2781 2182 4964.68
75–799899291 9183.59
80–845446221 1662.18
85–893004287281.36
90–941312543850.72
95–991771880.16
100+1670.01
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–145 5805 40710 98720.58
15–6417 41815 51632 93461.69
65+4 6334 8299 46217.72

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure

0–14 years: 19.89% (male 5,214/female 4,878)
15–24 years: 14.34% (male 3,738/female 3,538)
25–54 years: 37.31% (male 10,252/female 8,676)
55–64 years: 11.69% (male 3,054/female 2,878)
65 years and over: 16.76% (male 4,111/female 4,391) (2017 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
0–14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15–24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25–54 years: 1.18 male(s)/female
55–64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female
total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

5.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 79.85 years (2012 est.)
male: 77.37 years
female: 82.50 years

Total fertility rate

2.4 children born/woman (2012 est.)

Nationality

noun: Faroese (singular and plural)
adjective: Faroese

Ethnic groups

Faroese

Danes

Religions

Languages

The official languages are Faroese (derived from Old Norse), and Danish.

According to the Faroese census of 2011, [10] here is the breakdown of people in the Faroe Islands by language:

The percentages have been calculated based on the total number of respondents, which was 48,345 residents of the Faroe Islands who were asked to reply to the questions in November 2011.

Literacy


definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA%
note: similar to Denmark proper

Population by island

NameAreaInhabitantsPeople per km2Main placesRegions
Streymoy 373.521,71757.4 Tórshavn and Vestmanna Tórshavn and rest of Streymoy
Eysturoy 286.310,73837.5 Fuglafjørður and Runavík North Eysturoy and South Eysturoy
Vágar 177.62,85615.7 Míðvágur and Sørvágur Vágar
Suðuroy 1665,07430.9 Tvøroyri and Vágur Suðuroy
Sandoy 112.11,42812.4 Sandur and Skopun Sandoy
Borðoy 955,03052.4 Klaksvík Klaksvík and rest of northern Faroes (Norðoyar)
Viðoy 4160515 Viðareiði Norðoyar
Kunoy 35.51353.8Kunoy Norðoyar
Kalsoy 30.91364.8 Mikladalur and Húsar Norðoyar
Svínoy 27.4582.7Svínoy Norðoyar
Fugloy 11.2464 Kirkja Norðoyar
Nólsoy 10.326226.1Nólsoy Streymoy
Mykines 10.3191.8Mykines Vágar
Skúvoy 10615.7Skúvoy Sandoy
Hestur 6.1407.1Hestur Streymoy
Stóra Dímun 2.771.9Dímun Sandoy
Koltur 2.520.8Koltur Streymoy
Lítla Dímun 0.800 Suðuroy

See also

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References

  1. "Faroese genes good for genetic research". faroeislands.fo. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  2. Jorgensen, Tove H.; Buttenschön, Henriette N.; Wang, August G.; Als, Thomas D.; Børglum, Anders D.; Ewald, Henrik (June 2004). "The origin of the isolated population of the Faroe Islands investigated using Y chromosomal markers". Human Genetics. 115 (1): 19–28. doi:10.1007/s00439-004-1117-7. ISSN   0340-6717. PMID   15083358. S2CID   6040039.
  3. Wang, C. August. 2006. Ílegur og Føroya Søga. In: Frøði pp.20–23
  4. "RTÉ News: Adoptions". RTÉ.ie . Archived from the original on 30 October 2007.
  5. "Sandportal.fo". Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. "Statistical yearbooks of Denmark".
  7. Statistics Faroe Islands Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "IB01010 Changes in population by born, dead, migrated, village and month (1985-2023)". PxWeb.
  9. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  10. "hagstova.fo – Faroese people by mother tongue".