The

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

are divided into 29 municipalities, six regions/shires (, in plural) and since 2007 there has been only one constituency, earlier there were seven constituencies. Each region has one

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

(). *

Eysturoy Eysturoy (pronounced estroimeaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely ...

ar ''

sýsla A sýsla is a police district in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and formerly in Denmark and Norway. For the historical entity see: syssel. Faroe Islands sýsla * Norðoyar * Eysturoy * Streymoy * Vágar * Sandoy * Suðuroy Iceland * Árnessýsla ...

'' –

region. * Norðoya -

Norðoyar The six islands in the northeast of the Faroe Islands are together referred to as Norðoyar, i.e. the Northern Isles ( da, Norderøerne). These Islands from west to east are Kalsoy, Kunoy, Borðoy, Viðoy, Svínoy and Fugloy. Klaksvík Klaksv ...

("Northern Isles") region. (KG)

Borðoy Borðoy ( da, Bordø) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands. Its name means 'headland island'. There are eight settlements: Klaksvík (the second largest town in the Faroes), Norðoyri, Ánir, Árnafjørður, Strond, Norðtoftir, ...

, Fugloy, Kalsoy,

Kunoy Kunoy (meaning ''Woman island'', is an island located in the north-east of the Faroe Islands between Kalsoy to the west (with which there is no physical link) and Borðoy to the east (to which it is linked via a causeway). Settlements and trans ...

Svínoy Svínoy ( da, Svinø) is an island located in the north-east of the Faroe Islands, to the east of Borðoy and Viðoy. It takes its name from Old Norse, Svíney, meaning "Swine Isle". Svinoy also refers to a section of the ocean where North Atlanti ...

Viðoy Viðoy ( da, Viderø) is the northernmost island in the Faroe Islands, located east of Borðoy to which it is linked via a causeway. The name means ''wood island,'' despite the fact that no trees grow on the island; the name relates to the driftwoo ...

. *

Sandoy Sandoy ("Sand Island") is the first of the five southern islands that make up the Faroe chain, the fifth biggest of all the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark. It also refers to the region that includes this island alon ...

ar – Sandoy region (SA),

, Skúvoy,

Stóra Dímun Stóra Dímun ( da, Stor Dímun) is an island in the southern Faroe Islands, sometimes only referred to as Dímun. It is accessible by sea only during periods of clear and calm weather, but there is a regular helicopter service twice a week all ye ...

. *

Streymoy Streymoy ( da, Strømø) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also i ...

ar – Streymoy region (TN). Streymoy,

Hestur Hestur ( da, Hestø) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, to the west of Streymoy and the south of Koltur. ''Hestur'' means ''horse'' in Faroese. On the west coast is a guillemot colony. In the north there is moorland with four small lakes, ...

Koltur Koltur ( da, Kolter) is an island in the Faroe Islands, located to the west of Streymoy and to the north-west of Hestur. The name 'Koltur' means ' colt', in contrast with the name of the larger island to the south-east, 'Hestur', which means 'hors ...

Nólsoy Nólsoy (previously also ''Nölsoy''; da, Nolsø; non, Norsey) is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, 4 km east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy. Description Nólsoy is the lowest of the Faroes; the highest point is Eggjark ...

. *

Suðuroy Suðuroy (literally South Island, da, Suderø) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla ...

ar – Suðuroy region.

Lítla Dímun Lítla Dímun is a small, uninhabited island between the islands of Suðuroy and Stóra Dímun in the Faroe Islands. It is the smallest of the main 18 islands, being less than a square kilometre (247 acres) in area, and is the only uninhabited ...

(TG). * Vága – Vágar region. Mykines, Vágar (VA). The administrative subdivisions of the Faroe Islands are frequently changing. In the 1980s there were more than 50 municipalities. During the last past decades the number has been decreasing steadily, and more municipal-mergers can be expected within the following years. The aim of the ministry of interior is that in 2015 there will be only seven or nine municipalities in the Faroe Islands, more or less following the boundaries of the districts and constituencies. If this happens the Faroe Islands will have left the administrative structure of parish municipalities, which was built up in the first half of the 20th century and entered a structure of regional municipalities. Furthermore, there was a long-running discussion on reducing or even removing the constituencies. In the end, from the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are ...

onwards, the constituencies were abolished. The regions () are not administrative parts of the islands like the municipalities (). Municipalities charge taxes from inhabitants, while regions cannot charge taxes. Regions are mostly used by the public churches for the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, christenings, etc., but the central administration which gathers these informations from the priest and the municipalities is located in Tórshavn. It is called and is now a part of the Environmental Agency ().US.fo, Landsfólkayvirlit
/ref> The regions are also relevant to

pilot whale Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus ''Globicephala''. The two extant species are the long-finned pilot whale (''G. melas'') and the short-finned pilot whale (''G. macrorhynchus''). The two are not readily distinguishable at sea, ...

hunts. The sheriff decides if a pod of pilot whales can be killed or not. The boats need to get the sheriff's permission before any slaughter can take place, and in some regions the sheriff also decides which villages the whale meat and blubber should be given to. This is the case in Suðuroy: if people from the southern part of the island participate in a whale hunt, they are not sure to get any meat at all if the sheriff decides that there are too few whales to divide it among the whole island. The sheriff can decide to give the meat only, for example, to the northern part or to specific villages or to homes for the elderly.

References

{{Europe topic, Regions of Subdivisions of the Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 0

See also

References