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Updates: 

I have reconsidered the division into regions and decided that Suderø (Suðuroy) should be listed as a single entity again. The regions have lost almost all of their administrative significance. I don't count electoral districts as administrative divisions, because they're too unstable, but it is suggestive that Suderø is a single constituency. Wikipedia says that the Ministry of the Interior wants to reduce the number of municipalities to as few as seven or as many as fifteen through amalgamations. This process is already under way. When it reaches completion, it will probably be more meaningful to treat the municipalities as the primary subdivisions.

Country overview: 

Short name	FAROE ISLANDS
ISO code	FO
FIPS code	FO
Languages	Faroese (fo), Danish
Time zone	+0 ~
Capital	Thorshavn

 

The Faroes are a county of Denmark with limited autonomy.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Færøerne
2. Dutch: Faeröer
3. English: Faeroes (obsolete)
4. Faroese: Føroyar
5. Finnish: Färsaaret
6. French: Îles fp Féroé
7. German: Färöer
8. Icelandic: Færeyjar
9. Italian: Isole fp Faroe, Isole Färoër
10. Norwegian: Færøyene (Bokmål), Færøyane (Nynorsk)
11. Portuguese: Ilhas fp Feroé, Ilhas fp Faroë (Brazil)
12. Russian: Фарерские острова
13. Spanish: Islas fp Feroé
14. Swedish: Färöarna
15. Turkish: Faroe Adaları

Origin of name: 

Faroese Føroyar: sheep islands

Primary subdivisions: 

The Faroe Islands are divided into six syssel (Danish) or sýsla (Faroese), meaning regions.

Region	HASC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Faroese
Norderøerne	FO.NO	5,974	241	93	Norðoya
Østerø	FO.OS	10,887	286	111	Eysturoyar
Sandø	FO.SA	1,438	125	48	Sandoyar
Strømø	FO.ST	22,551	392	151	Streymoyar
Suderø	FO.SU	4,844	167	64	Suðuroyar
Vågø	FO.VG	3,084	188	73	Vága
6 regions		48,778	1,399	540
Region: Region names in Danish. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Population: 2008-12-31; population figures are compiled from population registers (source [3]). Faroese: Region names in Faroese.

Postal codes: 

The Faroes have three-digit postal codes. For international mail to the Faroes, FR- may be prefixed to the postal code.

Further subdivisions:

See the Communes of the Faroe Islands page.

The regions are further subdivided into kommunur (communes).

Territorial extent: 

1. Norderøerne includes the islands of Bordø (Borðoy), Fuglø (Fugloy), Kalsø (Kalsoy), Kunø (Kunoy), Svinø (Svínoy), Viderø (Viðoy), and adjacent islets.
2. Østerø includes the island of Østerø and adjacent islets.
3. Sandø includes the islands of Sandø, Skuø (Skúvoy, Skuva), Store Dimon (Stóra Dímun, Great Dimon), and adjacent islets.
4. Strømø includes the islands of Strømø, Hestø (Hestur), Kolter (Koltur), Nolsø (Nólsoy), and adjacent islets.
5. Suderø includes the islands of Suderø, Lille Dimon (Lítla Dímun, Little Dimon), and adjacent islets.
6. Vågø includes the islands of Vågø, Myggenæs (Mykines), and adjacent islets.

The UN LOCODE page  for Faroe Islands lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Change history: 

~1957: Suderø region split into Suderø Nordre and Suderø Søndre regions.

Region	HASC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Faroese
Norderøerne	FO.NO	5,814	241	93	Klaksvik	Norðoya
Østerø	FO.OS	9,998	286	111	Fuglafjørdhur	Eysturoyar
Sandø	FO.SA	2,615	125	48	Sandur	Sandoyar
Strømø	FO.ST	20,562	392	151	Vestmanna	Streymoyar
Suderø Nordre	FO.SN	2,684	97	37	Tvøroyri	Suðuroyar Norðra
Suderø Søndre	FO.SS	2,287	70	27	Vágar	Suðuroyar Sunnara
Vågø	FO.VG	1,449	188	73	Sørvágur	Vága
7 regions		45,409	1,399	540
Region: Region names in Danish. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Population: 1999-12-31; population figures were compiled from population registers. Capital: Source [2]. Faroese: Region names in Faroese.

 

~2004: Suderø Nordre and Suderø Søndre merged again.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Norderøerne: Norðoyar, Norderøer (variant)
2. Østerø: Eysturoy (variant)
3. Strømø: Stremoy, Streymoy (variant)
4. Vågø: Vágoy, Vágar, Vaagø (variant)
5. Sandø: Sandoy (variant)
6. Suderø: Suðuroy, Syderø (variant)

Population history:

Region	1911-02-01	1945-12-31	1955-11-30	1960-09-26	1970-11-16	1977-09-22	1989-12-31	1999-12-31
Norderøerne	2,087	3,928	4,804	5,086	5,427	5,665	6,165	5,814
Østerø	4,111	6,811	6,954	7,382	8,097	9,008	10,573	9,998
Sandø	1,296	1,764	1,710	1,736	1,632	1,706	1,782	2,615
Strømø	5,049	8,307	10,152	11,692	15,296	16,973	20,610	20,562
Suderø Nordre	3,817	5,991	6,182	3,056	2,952	3,061	3,091	2,684
Suderø Søndre				2,989	2,622	2,742	2,786	2,287
Vågø	1,640	2,377	2,654	2,655	2,586	2,814	2,939	1,449
Totals	18,000	29,178	32,456	34,596	38,612	41,969	47,946	45,409
Dates: Census date (1911, 1945, 1955, 1960, 1977); in other years, population figures were compiled from population registers.

Sources: 

1. [1] Statistik Årbog 2000, published by Danmarks Statistik, Copenhagen, 2000.
2. [2] U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency map, dated 1962-02.
3. [3] Statistical Service of the Faroe Isles  (retrieved 2009-10-05).