What is the capital of the Faeroe Islands?

The capital of the Faeroe Islands is Tórshavn, commonly written without the accent as Torshavn.

Tórshavn is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark. The name means “Thor’s harbor,” referring to the Norse god Thor. The city lies on the southeastern coast of Streymoy, the largest of the Faroese islands, and serves as the territory’s political, economic, and cultural center.

The settlement’s importance reaches back to the Viking Age. Around AD 850, Norse settlers established an assembly on the Tinganes peninsula, helping make Tórshavn the islands’ political center. The town later became the focal point of the Danish trade monopoly, which controlled commerce in the islands until free trade was introduced in 1856.

A frequent confusion is treating the Faroe Islands as an independent country with a separate sovereign capital. They are an autonomous territory of Denmark, with their own parliament and government based in Tórshavn. Locally, residents often call the city Havn, meaning “the harbor.”