Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla Dímun, the next isle northward in the Faroes, which is uninhabited.

Another settlement, Akraberg was abandoned around 1350 because of the Black Death; the people who lived there at that time came from Friesland, and legend has it that people in Hørg (in Sumba) can trace their ancestry back to this settlement, which was situated on the southernmost point of the island.

The pirates, who used Hvalba as a kind of base port, had unfortunately sailed 14 days before the arrival of the Danish squadron.

Two more settlements were started in the early and mid-20th century: Botni, northwest of Vágur, and Tjaldavík, in a bay southeast of Øravík.

[5] The inhabited settlements on Suðuroy include, from north to south: Sandvík, Hvalba, Froðba, Tvøroyri, Trongisvágur, Øravík, Fámjin, Hov, Porkeri, Nes, Vágur, Fámara, Akrar, Lopra and Sumba.

[7] MS Smyril operates two to three times daily between Tórshavn and Suðuroy, leaving from the new ferry port of Krambatangi on the south side of the fjord of Trongisvágsfjørður.

The proposed Suðuroyartunnilin would connect the island with Skúvoy and Sandoy, replacing the ferry Smyril.

[11] Power supply agency SEV calculated that two 900 kW wind turbines could save DKK 6 million per year on diesel,[12] and seven Enercon wind turbines at a combined 6.3 MW were installed at Porkeri Mountains in 2020.

On Eggjarnar, visitors can find two concrete bunkers which were British observation points during World War II.

South of Eggjarnar is the isthmus of Lopra, Lopranseiði, which is around 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level.

The cliff Beinisvørð is south of Lopranseiði, in between are some skerries, where the Dutch ship SS Westerbeek was shipwrecked in 1742.

The main attraction of Fámjin however is the original Faroese flag, Merkið, which is hanging inside of the church.

Tvøroyri and Vágur take turns in hosting an annual civic Midsummer festival called Jóansøka.

There were three other football clubs in Suðuroy: Vágs Bóltfelag, (VB), Royn from Hvalba and the football club from Sumba, but VB Vágur and Sumba merged in 2005 to VB/Sumba (a similar merger under the name Sumba/VB had been attempted in the 1995 season but it lasted only this one season).

Pál Joensen won triple gold in the 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships on the short course in the men's 400 M, 800 M and 1500 M Freestyle.

There are two active rowing clubs in Suðuroy, Vágs Kappróðrarfelag from Vágur and Froðbiar Sóknar Róðrarfelag from Tvøroyri and the villages around Trongisvágsfjørður (fjord).

In Hvalba they had a boat which was named Snopprikkur after a well-known man from the history of Suðuroy (Suðuroyar Sagnir).

Vágs Kappróðrarfelag has these boats: Royndin Fríða, which is a so-called 5-mannafar, Smyril, which is a 6-mannafar, and Toftaregin, which is an 8-mannafar and Vágbingur, which is a 10-mannafar.