DEMOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE FAROES

Population: 49,864 (January 2017)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.2% (male 5,370; female 5,194)
15-66 years: 63.8% (male 16,768; female 15,065)
67 years and over: 15.0% (male 3,590; female 3,907) (January 2017)

Population growth rate 14.6/1,000 (2016 est.)

Birth rate: 13.6/1,000 (2016 est.)

Death rate: 7.6/1,000 (2016 est.)

Net migration rate: 8.6/1,000 (2016 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.5/1,000 live births (2016 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 82.1 years
male: 79.9 years
female: 84.7 years (2016 est.)

Total fertility rate2.4 children born/woman (2016 est.)

Ethnic groupsScandinavian

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write – total population: 100%

LocationNorthern Europe, island group between the Norwegian Sea and the north Atlantic Ocean, about one-half of the way from Iceland to Norway

Areatotal: 1,399 sq km, comparative: eight times the size of Washington, DC

Maritime claimsexclusive fishing zone: 200 nm, territorial sea: 3 nm

Climatemild winters, cool summers; usually overcast; foggy, windy

Terrainrugged, rocky, some low peaks; cliffs along most of coast

Natural resources: fish, whales, hydropower