Municipalities of the Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are administratively divided in 29 municipalities (kommunur), with about 120 cities and villages. Until December 31, 2008, there were 34 municipalities, and until December 31, 2004, there were 48 municipalities. In the coming years the number of Faroese municipalities is expected to drop to somewhere between 7 and 15, as there is currently a rationale towards municipal amalgamation and a decentralization of public services. In 1998 it was suggested that no municipality should have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, but whether this will be true is a political question. The Faroese government has furthermore decided not to conduct forced, top-down amalgamation, but to leave the process to the free will of the municipalities. In many small municipalities there is some resistance to the amalgamation process, and as a result two kinds of municipalities are being created: large municipalities (town-municipalities) that are eager to attract smaller municipalities into amalgamation, and small municipalities which are either trying to avoid amalgamation or seek to amalgamate with other small municipalities. The geographically large Sunda municipality is an example of this. The larger municipalities are organized in Kommunusamskipan Føroya (KFS) and the smaller are organized in Føroya Kommunufelag (FKF).

Municipalities of the Faroe Islands since 2017

List of municipalities

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As of June 1, 2019, there were 29 municipalities in the Faroe Islands.

MunicipalityPopulation (January 2020)[1]Inhabitants per km2Area (in km2)MarkatalIsland(s)Region
Tórshavn21,926127173327Streymoy, Nólsoy, Hestur, KolturTórshavn[1]
Klaksvík5,24745116.4Borðoy, Svínoy, KalsoyKlaksvík[2]
Runavík4,1574299.9EysturoySouthern Eysturoy
Eystur2,1565142EysturoySouthern Eysturoy
Vágar2,13021102.8VágarVágar
Sunda1,81011158152Eysturoy, StreymoyNorthern Eysturoy and Northern Streymoy
Tvøroyri1,714404360SuðuroySuðuroy
Fuglafjørður1,589692332EysturoyNorthern Eysturoy
Vágur1,351642161SuðuroySuðuroy
Nes1,338961440EysturoySouthern Eysturoy
Vestmanna1,245245256StreymoyStreymoy
Sørvágur1,2361584124Vágar, MykinesVágar
Sjóvar1,089333370EysturoySouthern Eysturoy
Eiði761213749EysturoyNorthern Eysturoy
Hvalba679174099Suðuroy, Lítla DímunSuðuroy
Kvívík597124975StreymoyStreymoy
Sandur532114897SandoySandoy
Skopun4404990SandoySandoy
Hvannasund416133338Viðoy and BorðoyKlaksvík
Sumba358142564SuðuroySuðuroy
Viðareiði346123048ViðoyNorðoyggjar
Porkeri318231437SuðuroySuðuroy
Kunoy156435.565KunoyNorðoyggjar
Skálavík14452924SandoySandoy
Húsavík11542666SandoySandoy
Hov99101024SuðuroySuðuroy
Fámjin8361324SuðuroySuðuroy
Skúvoy4041073Skúvoy, Stóra DímunSandoy
Fugloy38311.214FugloyNorðoyggjar

History

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Municipalities from 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2008
  • On 1 January 2017 (30 municipalities reduced to 29):
  • On 1 January 2009 (34 municipalities reduced to 30):
  • On 1 January 2005 (38 municipalities reduced to 34):
    • Elduvík, Oyndarfjørður and Skála fused with Runavík.
    • Gjógv, Haldarsvík, Hósvík, Hvalvík and Saksun fused with Sunda municipality.
    • Hestur, Kirkjubøur and Nólsoy fused with Tórshavn.
    • Mikladalur fused with Klaksvík.
    • Mykines fused with Sørvágur.
  • On 1 January 1997
    • Argir and Kaldbak fused with Tórshavn.
  • On 1 August 1948
    • Funningur split into Funningur and Gjógv.

See also

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Notes

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^ Hagstova Føroya - information from 2007.
^ Tórshavn is both the capital of the Streymoy region and its own region, the latter being identical with Tórshavn municipality, but not including the area of the former Kollafjarðar kommuna.
^ Klaksvík both capital of the Norðoyggjar region as well of its own region, which constitute of the two municipalities Klaksvík and Hvannasund.

References

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  1. ^ "Faroe Islands: Administrative Division (Municipalities) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map".
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