• In the language itself: Føroyskt
• ISO 639-3 standard: fao

UNESCO	Ethnologue	Endangered Languages	Glottolog
n/a		n/a

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• Classification: Indo-European → Germanic → North Germanic → West Scandinavian → Icelandic-Faroese → Faroese. For more information, see Faroese at Glottolog
• Script: Latin script

<color #ed1c24>Map: Faroe Islands geographically</color> https://faroeislands.cdn.fo/savn/ygkcccya/map_of_faroe_islands_in_europe_-_english_caption.png?width=1920&bgcolor=fff&rmode=min&format=jpg&s=JqMErebKx1iI0Sq7EkJH0D-xaLs

The Faroe Islands lie about halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the northeast Atlantic, and consist of 18 mountainous islands (of which 17 are inhabited).
In August 2025 the Faroe islands had a total population of 55,146 people.¹⁾ The population is dispersed across the islands, though around 40 % live in or near the capital, Tórshavn. ²⁾

Faroese is the national language of the Faroe Islands as it derives from a Nordic variety spoken by the first settlers (Norsemen), who inhabited the islands around 1200 years ago. ³⁾
In 1948, under the Home Rule Act, Faroese was officially recognized as the principal language of the Faroese Islands; Danish remains as the second official language.⁴⁾

Faroese is spoken by only about 75,000–80,000 people worldwide, making it one of the smallest North Germanic languages. Around 55,000 speakers live in the Faroe Islands, while another 25,000 speakers reside in Denmark and 5,000 in Iceland.⁵⁾ 95% of the population of the Faroe Islands speak Faroese as (one of) their first language(s) and nearly all adult Faroese-speakers are bilingual in Faroese and Danish (Bugge, 2018 in Faingold 2023). ⁶⁾

<color #ed1c24>Map: Dialects of Faroese</color> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Faroese_Dialects_and_Subdialects.svg (Major dialects and subdialects of Faroese as described by Petersen: Petersen, Hjalmar Páll (2022). “Evidence for the modification of dialect classification of modern Faroese”. European Journal of Scandinavian Studies. 52 (1): 43–58. doi:10.1515/ejss-2021-2060 – via Walter de Gruyter GmbH.)

After the Reformation in 1536, the Danish authorities banned the Faroese language from schools, churches and official documents for centuries. The historical development of school education on the Faroe Islands began in mid-19th century when Danish authorities introduced a school system that used Danish — the language of the administrators, but not of most Faroese children — as the medium of instruction in elementary schools (1845) and later in a secondary school in Tórshavn (1861) to prepare pupils for Danish grammar schools and the University of Copenhagen. Two years before compulsory schooling (ages 7‑14) was imposed in 1870, a teachers’ training college was opened in Tórshavn; at this point, the curricula contained no content on Faroese society or culture (Debes 1995, cited in Faingold 2023). In 1899 the Faroese Folk High School was founded as the first school to teach in Faroese. A first change came with the Education Act in 1912, which formally allowed Faroese to be used as an auxiliary language in Danish-language classrooms. Yet, paragraph 7 emphasized that Faroese children must learn Danish for all subjects, leaving Faroese’s institutional status largely symbolic until after World War II (Knudsen 2010, cited in Faingold 2023). Subsequently in 1938, Faroese and Danish were granted equal status in school (and church). The Home Rule Act of 1948 formally recognised Faroese as the principal language on the Faroe Islands, mandated its teaching, and permitted Danish to be taught “well and carefully,” thereby authorising both languages in education. Post‑war reforms cemented Faroese as the main language of instruction in primary and secondary schools, with Danish introduced from third grade. Higher education, however, remaines dominated by Danish and English. ^{7) 8)}

The Faroese Islands have not signed or ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minorty Languages. Moreover, the Charter does not cover official languages, so Faroese on the Faroese Islands would not be included.

The Danish state has signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages(ECMRL). However, Faroese is not protected under the ECMRL as a minority language in Denmark (even though a third of Faroese speakers live in Denmark). ⁹⁾

The national legislation governing the Faroese language is anchored in Section 11 of the Home Rule Act of 1948, which explicitly recognises Faroese as the “principal language” of the Faroe Islands while also requiring Danish to be taught well and allowing both languages to be used in public affairs. This provision authorises the teaching of Faroese in schools and permits its use as a medium of instruction, though it does not make either compulsory per se. However, since the school system in the Faroe Islands is under the jurisdiction of the Faroese authorities, Faroese has been adopted as the official language of instruction in all primary and secondary schools.¹⁰⁾

In 2007 a language commission (as part of the then existing Ministry of Education, Research and Culture) drafted a report to enshrine Faroese by law as the language of instruction in higher education, but the proposal never materialised because language policy remains subject to the broader Danish kingdom framework.¹¹⁾

Education on the Faroe Islands is administered and regulated by the Ministry of Children and Education.
The Ministry of Children and Education oversees all levels of schooling. This includes:

• primary and lower secondary schools (fólkaskúlan)
• high-schools (upper secondary) and vocational schools
• special education schools
• day care centers and kindergartens
  

The Ministry’s responsibilities include legislative work (i.e. offering municipalities advice on legislation and guidance regarding educational matters), curricula, examinations, teacher salaries, school transport, leisure time education (e.g. music schools) and the approval of school structures and building projects. In addition it supervises institutions like the educational publisher Nám. ¹²⁾

The standardization of Faroese began in 1846, when Lutheran minister and folklorist Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb created an etymological-morphophonemic orthography for Faroese, which was modeled on Icelandic spelling, aiming to highlight the historical connection to Old Norse. Although several proposed orthographies were discussed, e.g. by the Føringafelag (Faroese Society), Hammershaimb’s spelling system became widely accepted as a written standard in the 20th century and established the modern Faroese orthography. ¹³⁾

Further institutionalisation was achieved by the founding of the Føroyska málnevndin (Language Committee of the Faroe Islands) in 1985, which functioned as an advisory institution on language matters. ¹⁴⁾
In 2013, the Føroyska málnevndin was replaced by the newly founded and restructured Málráðið (Faroese Language Council) as part of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Culture. Its responsibilities include promoting and developing (e.g. through coining neologisms) the Faroese language, advising individuals, institutions and government bodies on language matters and determining the Faroese spelling (i.e. publication of a unified Faroese spelling dictionary). In contrast to his predecessor is the Málráðið authorized to make binding decisisons.¹⁵⁾¹⁶⁾

Nám (the only educational publisher on the Faroe Islands) provides textbooks and other teaching material, both printed and digital, for all subjects being taught in Faroese. Materials are mainly produced for primary and lower secondary education, though some are provided digitally for upper secondary education. ¹⁷⁾

Other teaching material for upper secondary and higher education is then usually provided in Danish or English.

A study by Rasmussen et al. (2024) on the teaching of Faroese as a second language (FSL) at Faroese puplic schools concluded that teachers report a severe shortage of suitable FSL resources; existing materials are few, not designed specifically for FSL, and often not age-appropriat (especially for older pupils). ¹⁸⁾

The former Teachers’ College (Føroya Læraraskúli) became part of the University of the Faroe Islands as the Department of Education in 2008. To become a pedagogue (e.g. for pre-school institutons) or a teacher (for primary and lower secondary education), students have to complete a four-year degree. The first part is a three-year bachelor programm, followed up by an additional year for specialisation. Teaching placements at schools are included every second semester. ¹⁹⁾

Day-care is offered in municipal centres, which include nurseries and kindergartens, or in private homes. Pre-school classes are optionally provided by some of the folkaskúlin (primary and lower secondary schools).²⁰⁾

In the school year 2025/26, 327 children were enrolled in pre-school classes. ²¹⁾

For children on the Faroe Islands nine years of education are compulsory. Pupils can recieve their education at one of the public schools (fólkaskúli) or through equivalent instruction, e.g. private schools or home-schooling that matches the standards of the public schools. Since the Home Rule Act of 1948, Faroese is the compulsory language of instruction in the fólkaskúli, which provide free primary and lower secondary education (Years 1-10). ^{22) 23)}
Primary education starts around the age of 7. The first four years are usually taught at primary schools in the villages, while the last three years take place at district schools. Danish language instruction begins in Year 3 and English in Year 5. ²⁴⁾

In the school year 2025/26, 5560 pupils are attending primary schools and 1772 pupils lower-secondary schools. ²⁵⁾

Progression onto upper secondary education or vocational education is possible after pupils succesfully completed school-leaving examinations in Year 9.

After Year 9, students may enter a general 3-year education program at a high-school (called studentaskúlin or miðnám), where science‑based or language‑based tracks are offered. Completion of the upper secondary diploma allows pupils to enter higher education institutions on the Faroese islands or abroad. Upper secondary education can also be pursued at an establishment in Denmark. ²⁶⁾²⁷⁾

Pupils can pursue another year (Year 10) of general education at a fólkaskúlin, if they did not complete the school-leaving certificate in Year 9. ²⁸⁾

Vocational education is offered by specialised colleges with a variety of programmes (technology, construction, fishery, service, health and more) that start with a basic educational year at college followed by two additional years of study or practical apprenticeship training within an enterprise. ²⁹⁾

Some institutions, that offer vocational education, include:

• The Centre of Maritime Studies and Engineering (Faroese: Vinnuháskúlin): https://vh.fo/en/frontpage/
• Sjónam Maritime School (Faroese: Sjónám): https://sjonam.fo/
• The Public Faroese Health School (Faroese: Heilsuskúli Føroya): https://www.heilsuskulin.fo/
• School of Home Economics (Faroese: Húsarhaldsskúli Føroya): https://haskulin.fo/en/

Glasir – Tórshavn College, the largest educational institution on the Faroe Islands, was established in 2013 and offers various upper secondary educations , i.e. high-school as well as the theoretical part of vocational programmes, “under the same roof”. It also offers higher vocational education in collaboration with the Copenhagen Business School. ³⁰⁾³¹⁾

In the school year 2021/22, 1686 pupils attended upper secondary education, 908 pupils attended vocational education and 202 people were in maritime programmes. ³²⁾

The University of the Faroe Islands (Fróðskaparsetur Føroya) was established in 1965 and is the only public university that provides most tertiary programmes on the islands. As of 2025, the university offers 16 (three‑year) bachelor programmes and 10 (two‑year) master programmes in total, across five faculties ³³⁾.³⁴⁾
The Faculty of Faroese Language and Literature (FLL), which is the only institution of its kind in the world, both offers a bachelor and master degree in FLL, along with Faroese as a major and minor subject. The Department also provides Ph.D. positions in linguistics and literature. ³⁵⁾

Other than at the Faculty for FLL, “Faroese operates as a minoritized language in higher education” (Faingold, 2023:236). The major languages of instruction at the University of the Faroe Islands are Danish and English, which is due to a number of reasons: (international) lecturers with inadequate proficiency in Faroese, the lack of regulations for the use of foreign languages in higher education, as well as the increasing trend to offer higher education in English (nationally and internationally).³⁶⁾³⁷⁾
However, the increasing development of structures providing higher education on the Faroe Islands shows positive results: “In 2019, for the first time, there were more Faroese students in the Faroe Islands than there were in Denmark”³⁸⁾.

In the year 2021/22, 1069 students were matriculated at the university overall, from which 62 were enrolled in programmes at the Faculty for Faroese language and literature. ³⁹⁾

Aside from the university, tertiary education/training is delivered by the Centre of Maritime Studies and Engineering (Vinnuháskúlin) for professions in the areas navigation, engineering and firefighting. ⁴⁰⁾.

Adult education on the Faroese language is provided through a variety of institutions and initiatives, both formal and informal.

Kvøldskúli (evening schools), organized by municipalities and funded by the Ministry of Children and Education, play a central role in offering Faroese language courses for adults. These classes are free of charge for foreign nationals with a personal identification number (p-tal) and are typically structured at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, with some courses tailored specifically for learners from other Nordic countries or English speakers. In addition to language instruction, they often introduce aspects of Faroese culture and society, including visits to local institutions and workplaces. ⁴¹⁾

The University of the Faroe Islands also provides opportunities for adult learners, offering academic courses in Faroese each semester and hosting the international Faroese Summer Institute every two years, a three- to four-week program of intensive language study and the possibility of attaining a certificate. ⁴²⁾⁴³⁾

Beyond formal structures, learners may also take private lessons or engage through social media platforms. Complementing these options, the Fólkaháskúlin (Faroese Folk High School) offers non-formal adult education emphasizing cultural understanding and personal development, further broadening the scope of lifelong learning opportunities in Faroese language and culture. ⁴⁴⁾⁴⁵⁾

• https://faroeseonline.com/ (free online language course; launched in 2016, created by the University of the Faroe Islands and the University of Iceland)
• https://sprotin.fo/?_l=fo (16 free dictionaries e.g. Faroese to English, Danish, German, and Faroese monolingual dictionary; seller of books in Faroese; free translation services)
• https://www.faroeislandstranslate.com/#!/ (Faroe Islands Translate - a translation tool website)
• https://kvf.fo/?ref=languagelist (Faroese news, TV and radio)
• https://faroepodcast.libsyn.com/ (A podcast about the Faroese Islands and their culture)
• https://www.youtube.com/@learnfaroesewithbergur/videos (Youtube-channel; 7 units with 30 Faroese sentences)