Demographics of Faroe Islands.html



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.

Faroese student in national costume.

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 100% 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 99'9% Norse. 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 comprising0.4% 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.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

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

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

48,700 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 23% (male 5,233; female 5,163)
15-64 years: 63% (male 15,270; female 13,382)
65 years and over: 14% (male 2,788; female 3,460) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate

0.83% (2000 est.)

Birth rate

13.58 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate

8.7 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate

3.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.14 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate

6.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 78.43 years
male: 74.96 years
female: 81.92 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.32 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality

noun: Faroese (singular and plural)
adjective: Faroese

Ethnic groups

Faroese (mixed Scandinavian - British), Danish

Religions

Lutheran

Languages

Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish

Literacy

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

See also

• Faroe Islands
• List of Faroese people

References