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The Faroe or Faeroe Islands (in Faroese Føroyar) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The official language of the country is Faroese, which is closely related to and partially mutually intelligible with Icelandic.
Located 320 kilometres north-northwest of the United Kingdom, the islands have a total area of about 1,400 square kilometres with a population of 54,676 as of August 2023. The terrain is rugged, and the subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc) is windy, wet, cloudy, and cool. Despite the northerly climate, the temperatures are moderated by the Gulf Stream and average above freezing throughout the year, hovering around 12 °C in summer and 5 °C in winter. As a result of its northerly latitude and proximity to the Arctic Circle, the islands experience perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days. The capital and largest city, Tórshavn, receives the fewest hours of sunshine of any city in the world at a mere 840 per year.
While archaeological evidence points to earlier human habitation, Færeyinga Saga and the writings of Dicuil place initial Norse settlement in the early 9th century. As with the subsequent Settlement of Iceland, the islands were mainly settled by Norwegians and Norse-Gaels, who additionally brought thralls of Gaelic origin.
The Christmas Meeting of 1888 (in Faroese Jólafundurin 1888) is considered to be the official start of the Faroese National Movement.
On December 22, 1888 the only newspaper at that time in the Faroe Islands, Dimmalætting, carried the following notice:
ALL AND EACH
are invited to gather in the house of Parliament on the second day of Christmas at 3 o'clock in the afternoon where we will discuss how to defend the Faroese language and Faroese traditions.
The invitation, signed by nine prominent Faroemen, marked the inception of a new era in Faroese history -the rise of the National Movement.
In spite of a raging storm and slushy roads, a large crowd of people gathered in the house of the Løgting that afternoon. Speeches were made and patriotic songs were sung. The highlight of the meeting came when the poet Rasmus Effersøe recited a battle hymn written for the occasion by young Jóannes Patursson. The message of the lengthy poem was evident in the first stanza:
Now the hour has come,
when we must join hands
and rally around
our native tongue.
The meeting ended with the acceptance of a six-point resolution:
As soon as there were enough Faroese schoolbooks available, Faroese should be used as an educational language in schools.
In history, the emphasis must be on Faroese national history.
In religion, all Danish rote learning should be abolished and the subject matter rendered in Faroese.
Priests must be free to use Faroese in and outside the Church.
Faroese should be used for all official ends and purposes.
Finally, the resolution stressed the necessity of establishing a Faroese Folk High School.
More information: Føroya Landsstýri
The Faroese independence movement (in Faroese Føroyska Tjóðskaparrørslan), or the Faroese national movement (Føroyska Sjálvstýrisrørslan), is a political movement which seeks the establishment of the Faroe Islands as a sovereign state outside of Denmark.
Reasons for independence include the linguistic and cultural divide between Denmark and the Faroe Islands as well as their lack of proximity to one another; the Faroe Islands are about 990 km from Danish shores.
Norsemen settled the islands around 800 AD, bringing the Old Norse language that evolved into the modern Faroese language. These settlers are not thought to have come directly from Scandinavia, but rather from Norse communities surrounding the Irish Sea, Northern Isles and Western Isles of Scotland, including the Shetland and Orkney islands, and Norse-Gaels. A traditional name for the islands in the Irish language, Na Scigirí, means the Skeggjar and possibly refers to the Eyja-Skeggjar (island-beards), a nickname given to the island dwellers.
According to Færeyinga Saga, emigrants left Norway who did not approve of the monarchy of Harald I of Norway. These people settled the Faroes around the end of the 9th century. It is thus officially held that the islands' Nordic language and culture are derived from the early Norwegians. The islands were a possession of the Kingdom of Norway (872-1397) from 1035 until their incorporation into Denmark.
In the status quo, the Faroe Islands is an autonomous area of the Kingdom of Denmark, sharing this distinction with Greenland. In response to growing calls for autonomy, the Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands was passed on March 23, 1948, cementing the latter's status as a self-governing country within The Unity of the Realm.
The Act has also allowed the vast majority of domestic affairs to be ceded to the Faroese government, with the Danish government only responsible for military defence, police, justice, currency and foreign affairs.
The Faroe Islands are not part of the European Union. The Faroe Islands also have their own national football team and are a full member of FIFA and UEFA.
More information: Visit Faroe Islands
It's the owner of the cow who walks close to her tail.
Faroese Proverb
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