The Faroes (or Faroe Islands, or Føroyar in the islands' Norse language) comprise an archipelago of 18 islands in the North Atlantic Ocean very roughly equidistant from Norway, Scotland, and Iceland. Settled by the Norse in the 7th century, the Faroes have a population of about 55,000. Although they are part of the Kingdom of Denmark the islands are self-governing in practically all respects. In fact the Faroes declined to join the European Union when Denmark did so. During World War II the islands were occupied by British troops to keep them out of German control. British engineers built the only airport in the archipelago on the island of Vágar. Today the national airline Atlantic Airways offers regular flights to the islands from London, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and several other locations in northwestern Europe. Bridges and tunnels have been built connecting the major islands except Sandoy and Suðeroy, which are accessible by ferry. The word for a lighthouse in Faroese is viti, the same word as in Icelandic; oy is an island, nes is a cape or headland, vík is a bay, sund is a strait, and havn is a harbor. Like Icelandic Faroese includes the old Norse letter "eth" (Ð and ð), pronounced with the softer form of the th sound. Aids to navigation in the islands are maintained by the Danish Maritime Authority (Søfartsstyrelsen). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. DFL numbers are from the Dansk Fyrliste. Admiralty numbers are from volume L of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 115.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: Shetland Islands | West: East and South Iceland
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Posted October 24, 2006. Checked and revised April 18, 2025. Lighthouses: 26. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.