  This paper examines the mode identification and presents pulsation models for
FG Vir, for which 24 frequencies have been detected. Histograms of the
frequency spacings show peaks which are identified with adjacent radial orders
and rotational splitting.
  Pulsational $\ell$ values are deduced for eight modes by comparing the
observed photometric phase lags between $v$ and $y$ variations with calculated
values. The dominant pulsation mode at 12.72 c/d can be identified with $\ell$
= 1, while the 12.15 c/d mode is the radial fundamental. These results are in
agreement with identifications published by Viskum et al. (1998).
  Based on the observational mode identifications and the Hipparcos distance,
new models were computed with the constraint that the mode at 12.15 c/d is the
radial fundamental mode. It is shown that with standard opacities, models in
the appropriate T_eff, log L and log g ranges cannot reproduce the
identification in the literature of 23.40 c/d as the third radial overtone.
However, we show that observationally an $\ell$ = 1 (rather than radial)
identification is equally probable.
  A large number of pulsation models were computed for FG Vir. A comparison
between the observed frequencies and mode identifications and pulsation models
leads to a mean density of <rho>/<rho_sun> = 0.156 +- 0.002 depending on the
opacity and chemical composition choice and on the possible overshooting from
the convective core. The models also correctly predict the observed region of
instability between 9 and 34 c/d.
  The effect of rotational coupling on the pulsation frequencies is estimated.
