Between 1035 and 1814 the Faroes were part of the Kingdom of Norway<\/a>, which was in a personal union with Denmark from 1450. In 1814 the Treaty of Kiel<\/a> transferred Norway to the king of Sweden, on the winning side of the Napoleonic wars<\/a>, whereas the king of Denmark, on the losing side, retained the Faroes, along with the two other historical Norwegian island possessions in the North Atlantic: Greenland<\/a> and Iceland<\/a>. The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948.<\/p>\n The Faroese control most of their domestic affairs. Those that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, policing, and the justice department, currency, and foreign affairs. However, as they are not part of the same customs area as Denmark, the Faroe Islands have an independent trade policy and can establish trade agreements with other states. The islands also have representation in the Nordic Council<\/a> as members of the Danish delegation. The Faroe Islands have their own national teams competing in certain sports.<\/p>\n In Faroese<\/a>, the name appears as F\u00f8royar. Oyar represents the plural of oy, older Faroese for “island”. Due to sound changes, the modern Faroese word for island is oyggj. The first element, f\u00f8r, may reflect an Old Norse word f\u00e6r (sheep), although this analysis is sometimes disputed because Faroese now uses the word sey\u00f0ur (from Old Norse sau\u00f0r) to mean “sheep”. Another possibility is that the Irish monks, who settled the island around 625, had already given the islands a name related to the Gaelic word fearrann, meaning “land” or “estate”. This name could then have been passed on to the Norwegian settlers, who then added oyar (islands).[12] The name thus translates as either “Islands of Sheep” or “Islands of Fearrann”.<\/p>\n In Danish, the name F\u00e6r\u00f8erne contains the same elements, though \u00f8erne is the definite plural of \u00f8 (island).<\/p>\n In English, it may be seen as redundant to say the Faroe Islands, since the oe comes from an element meaning “island”. This is seen in the BBC<\/a> Shipping Forecast<\/a>, where the waters around the islands are called Faeroes. The name is also sometimes spelled “Faeroe”.<\/p>\n Archaeological evidence shows settlers living on the Faroe Islands in two successive periods before the Norse arrived, the first between 300 and 600 AD and the second between 600 and 800 AD. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen<\/a> have also found early cereal pollen from domesticated plants, which further suggests people may have lived on the islands before the Vikings<\/a> arrived. Archaeologist Mike Church noted that Dicuil<\/a> mentioned what may have been the Faroes. He also suggested that the people living there might have been from Ireland<\/a>, Scotland, or Scandinavia, possibly with groups from all three areas settling there.<\/p>\n A Latin account of a voyage made by Brendan<\/a>, an Irish monastic saint who lived around 484\u2013578, includes a description of insulae (islands) resembling the Faroe Islands. This association, however, is far from conclusive in its description.<\/p>\n Dicuil, an Irish monk of the early nineth century, wrote a more definite account. In his geographical work De mensura orbis terrae he claimed he had reliable information of heremitae ex nostra Scotia (“hermits from our land of Ireland\/Scotland”) who had lived on the northerly islands of Britain for almost a hundred years until the arrival of Norse pirates.<\/p>\n Norsemen settled the islands c. 800, bringing Old West Norse<\/a>, which evolved into the modern Faroese language. According to Icelandic sagas such as F\u00e6reyjar Saga, one of the best known men in the island was Tr\u00f3ndur \u00ed G\u00f8tu<\/a>, a descendant of Scandinavian chiefs who had settled in Dublin<\/a>, Ireland. Tr\u00f3ndur led the battle against Sigmund Brestursson<\/a>, the Norwegian monarchy and the Norwegian church.<\/p>\n The Norse and Norse\u2013Gael<\/a> settlers probably did not come directly from Scandinavia, but rather from Norse communities surrounding the Irish Sea<\/a>, Northern Isles, and Outer Hebrides of Scotland, including the Shetland<\/a> and Orkney<\/a> islands. A traditional name for the islands in Irish<\/a>, Na Scigir\u00ed, possibly refers to the (Eyja-)Skeggjar “(Island-)Beards”, a nickname given to island dwellers.<\/p>\n According to the F\u00e6reyinga saga<\/a>, more emigrants left Norway who did not approve of the monarchy of Harald Fairhair<\/a> (ruled c. 872 to 930). These people settled the Faroes around the end of the nineth century. Early in the eleventh century, Sigmundur Brestisson<\/a> (961\u20131005) \u2013 whose clan had flourished in the southern islands before invaders from the northern islands almost exterminated it \u2013 escaped to Norway. He was sent back to take possession of the islands for Olaf Tryggvason<\/a>, King of Norway from 995 to 1000. Sigmundur introduced Christianity, forcing Tr\u00f3ndur \u00ed G\u00f8tu to convert or face beheading and, although Sigmundur was subsequently murdered, Norwegian taxation was upheld. Norwegian control of the Faroes continued until 1814, although, when the Kingdom of Norway (872\u20131397) entered the Kalmar Union<\/a> with Denmark, it gradually resulted in Danish control of the islands. The Reformation<\/a> with Protestant<\/a> Evangelical Lutheranism<\/a> and Reformed<\/a> reached the Faroes in 1538. When the union between Denmark and Norway dissolved as a result of the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark retained possession of the Faroe Islands; Norway itself was joined in a union with Sweden.<\/p>\n Following the turmoil caused by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) in 1816, the Faroe Islands became a county in the Danish Kingdom.<\/p>\n As part of Mercantilism<\/a>, Denmark maintained a monopoly over trade with the Faroe Islands and forbade their inhabitants trading with others (e.g. the geographically close Britain). The trade monopoly in the Faroe Islands was abolished in 1856, after which the area developed as a modern fishing nation with its own fishing fleet. The national awakening from 1888 initially arose from a struggle to maintain the Faroese language and was thus culturally oriented, but after 1906 it became more political with the foundation of political parties of the Faroe Islands.<\/p>\n In the first year of World War II, on 12 April 1940, British troops occupied the Faroe Islands<\/a>, shortly after the Operation Weser\u00fcbung<\/a> with the Nazi German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940. In 1942\u20131943 the British Royal Engineers, under the leadership of Lt. Col. William Law MC, built the only airport in the Faroe Islands, V\u00e1gar Airport. Control of the islands reverted to Denmark following the war, but Danish rule had been undermined, and Iceland’s independence served as a precedent for many Faroese.<\/p>\n The 1946 Faroese independence referendum<\/a> resulted in 50.73% in favor of independence to 49.27% against. The Faroe Islands subsequently declared independence on 18 September 1946; however, this declaration was annulled by Denmark on 20 September on the grounds that a majority of the Faroese voters had not supported independence and King Christian X of Denmark<\/a> dissolved the Faroese L\u00f8gting on 24 September. The dissolution of the L\u00f8gting was on 8 November followed by the Faroese parliamentary election of 1946<\/a> in which the parties in favor of full independence received a total of 5,396 votes while the parties against received a total of 7,488 votes. As a reaction to the growing self-government and independence movements, Denmark finally granted the Faroe Islands home-rule with a high degree of local autonomy on 30 March 1948.<\/p>\n In 1973 the Faroe Islands declined to join Denmark in entering the European Economic Community<\/a> (later absorbed into the European Union<\/a>). The islands experienced considerable economic difficulties following the collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s, but have since made efforts to diversify the economy. Since then, support for independence has grown and is the objective of the Republican Party.<\/a><\/p>\n The Faroe Islands are an island group consisting of 18 major islands (and a total of 779 islands, islets, and skerries) about 655 kilometers (407 mi) off the coast of Northern Europe, between the Norwegian Sea<\/a> and the North Atlantic Ocean<\/a>, about halfway between Iceland and Norway, the closest neighbors being the Northern Isles<\/a> and the Outer Hebrides<\/a> of Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n The islands cover an area of 1,399 square kilometers (540 sq. mi) and have small lakes and rivers, but no major ones. There are 1,117 kilometers (694 mi) of coastline. The only significant uninhabited island is L\u00edtla D\u00edmun.<\/a><\/p>\n The islands are rugged and rocky with some low peaks; the coasts are mostly cliffs. The highest point is Sl\u00e6ttaratindur<\/a> in northern Eysturoy<\/a>, 882 meters (2,894 ft) above sea level.<\/p>\n The Faroe Islands are made up of an approximately six-kilometers-thick succession of mostly basaltic lava that was part of the great North Atlantic Igneous Province<\/a> during the Paleogene<\/a> period. The lavas were erupted during the opening of the North Atlantic ocean, which began about 60 million years ago, and what is today the Faroe Islands was then attached to Greenland. The lavas are underlain by circa 30 km of unidentified ancient continental crust.<\/p>\n Economic troubles caused by a collapse of the Faroese fishing industry in the early 1990s brought high unemployment rates of 10 to 15% by the mid-1990s. Unemployment decreased in the later 1990s, down to about 6% at the end of 1998. By June 2008 unemployment had declined to 1.1%, before rising to 3.4% in early 2009. In December 2014 the unemployment was 3.2%. Nevertheless, the almost total dependence on fishing and fish farming means that the economy remains vulnerable. One of the biggest private companies of the Faroe Islands is the salmon farming company Bakkafrost<\/a>, which is the largest of the four salmon farming companies in the Faroe Islands and the eighth biggest in the world.<\/p>\n Petroleum found close to the Faroese area gives hope for deposits in the immediate area, which may provide a basis for sustained economic prosperity.<\/p>\n 13% of the Faroe Islands’ national income comes as economic aid from Denmark. This corresponds to roughly 5% of GDP.<\/p>\n Since 2000, the government has fostered new information technology and business projects to attract new investment. The introduction of Burger King<\/a> in T\u00f3rshavn<\/a> was widely publicized as a sign of the globalization of Faroese culture<\/a>. It remains to be seen whether these projects will succeed in broadening the islands’ economic base. The islands have one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, but this should not necessarily be taken as a sign of a recovering economy, as many young students move to Denmark and other countries after leaving high school. This leaves a largely middle-aged and elderly population that may lack the skills and knowledge to fill newly developed positions on the Faroes. Nonetheless, in 2008 the Faroes were able to make a $52 million loan to Iceland to help with that country’s banking woes.<\/p>\n On 5 August 2009, two opposition parties introduced a bill in the L\u00f8gting<\/a> to adopt the euro as the national currency, pending a referendum.<\/p>\n The road network on the Faroe Islands is highly developed. By road, the main islands are connected by bridges and tunnels. Government owned Strandfaraskip Landsins<\/a> provides public bus and ferry service to the main towns and villages. There are no railways.<\/p>\n By air, Scandinavian Airlines<\/a> and the government owned Atlantic Airways<\/a> both have scheduled international flights to V\u00e1gar Airport<\/a>, the islands’ only airport. Atlantic Airways also provides helicopter service to each of the islands. All civil aviation matters are controlled from the Civil Aviation Administration Denmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n By sea, Smyril Line<\/a> operates a regular international passenger, car and freight service linking the Faroe Islands with Sey\u00f0isfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur<\/a>, Iceland and Hirtshals<\/a>, Denmark.<\/p>\n Because of the rugged terrain, road transport in the Faroe Islands was not as extensive as in other parts of the world. This has now changed, and the infrastructure has been developed extensively. Some 80 percent of the population of the islands is connected by tunnels through the mountains and between the islands, bridges and causeways that link together the three largest islands and three other islands to the northeast. While the other two large islands to the south, Sandoy and Su\u00f0uroy, are connected to the main area with ferries, the small islands Koltur and St\u00f3ra D\u00edmun have no ferry connection, only a helicopter service. Other small islands\u2014Mykines to the west, Kalsoy, Sv\u00ednoy and Fugloy to the north, Hestur west of Streymoy, and N\u00f3lsoy east of T\u00f3rshavn\u2014have smaller ferries and some of these islands also have a helicopter service.<\/p>\n In February 2014 all the political parties of the L\u00f8gting agreed on making two subsea tunnels, one between Streymoy and Eysturoy (the Eysturoyartunnilin<\/a>) and one between Streymoy and Sandoy (Sandoyartunnilin<\/a>). The plan is that both tunnels should open in 2021 and they will not be private. The work to dig the Eysturoy-tunnel started on 1 March 2016 above the village of Hv\u00edtanes<\/a> near T\u00f3rshavn.<\/p>\n The flag of the Faroe Islands is an offset cross, representing Christianity. It is similar in design to other Nordic flags<\/a> \u2013 a tradition set by the Dannebrog<\/a> of Denmark, of which the Faroe Islands are an autonomous territory.<\/p>\n The flag is called Merki\u00f0, which means “the banner” or “the mark”. It resembles the flags of neighboring Norway<\/a> and Iceland<\/a>.<\/p>\n The design of the flag incorporates a red Nordic cross, which is offset to the left. The red cross is fimbriated azure and is set on a white field. The flag design closely resembles that of the Norwegian flag, with the fimbriated cross. The flag proportion is usually 5:7.<\/p>\n White symbolizes the creators of the flag, the foam of the sea and the pure, radiant sky of the Faroe Islands, while the old Faroese blue and red colours are reminiscent of other Scandinavian and Nordic flags; representing the Faroe Islands’ bonds with other Nordic countries.<\/p>\n The modern Faroese flag was devised in 1919 by Jens Oliver Lisberg<\/a> and others while they were studying in Copenhagen. The first time Merki\u00f0 was raised in the Faroe Islands was on 22 June that year in F\u00e1mjin<\/a> on the occasion of a wedding. On 25 April, 1940, the British occupation government<\/a> approved the flag for use by Faroese vessels, during the tenure of Carl Aage Hilbert<\/a> as Danish prefect. Britain did not want the same flag as German-occupied Denmark to be used. April 25 is still celebrated as Flaggdagur and it is a national holiday. With the Home Rule Act of 23 March, 1948, the flag was recognized by the Danish Government as the national flag of the Faroes. The original flag is displayed in the church of F\u00e1mjin in Su\u00f0uroy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The modern Faroese flag was devised in 1919 by Jens Oliver Lisberg and others while they were studying in Copenhagen. The first time Merki\u00f0 was raised in the Faroe Islands was on 22 June that year in F\u00e1mjin on the occasion of a wedding. On 25 April, 1940, the British occupation government approved the flag for use by Faroese vessels, during the tenure of Carl Aage Hilbert as Danish prefect. Britain did not want the same flag as German-occupied Denmark to be used. April 25 is still celebrated as Flaggdagur and it is a national holiday. With the Home Rule Act of 23 March, 1948, the flag was recognized by the Danish Government as the national flag of the Faroes. The original flag is displayed in the church of F\u00e1mjin in Su\u00f0uroy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[66,59,26,5,6,7,29,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Islands-on-the-Globe-300x169.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nEtymology:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Sheep-300x208.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Saint-Brendan-232x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Viking-Age-Remnants-300x195.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Islands-Drawn-1767-300x166.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/British-Soldier-with-Faroe-Islands-Boys-300x220.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Islands-From-Space-220x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nEconomy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Export-Map-of-Faroe-Islands-300x235.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nTransport:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/V\u00e1gar-Airport-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Islands-Towns-and-Roads-229x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of the Faroe Islands:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/Faroe-Islands-Flag-300x218.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>