For the past two decades, since the opening of the Faroe Islands’ first undersea road tunnel, the Vagar Tunnel which interlinks the islands Streymoy and Vágar, local development in towns such as, notably, Sandavágur have accelerated markedly.
And, according to Vágar Municipality, the village on the south coast of the island has never before seen such population growth. And thus per September 9th, Sandavágur had 1,003 residents — the first time ever for the town to cross the 1,000-population mark.
As of July 2022, the total population of the municipality comprising Sandavágur, Miðvágur and Vatnsoyrar amounted to 2,177, making Vágar Municipality the Faroe Islands’ fifth-largest by number of residents.
“The lowest point for the population of Sandavágur in modern was in 1997, when only 662 people lived there,” we’re told. “After that there was a steady population increase up to 2008, when the population reached 800.” Boosted by the new level of connectivity provided by the Vagar Tunnel, the population grew by 100 over the following decade to reach 900 — and now the past four years have seen another 100 people added to the village’s total population, taking past the 1,000 barrier.
