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Wikipedia portal for content related to the Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands Portal TheFaroe Islands (/ˈfɛəroʊ/FAIR-oh) (alt. theFaroes) are anarchipelago in the NorthAtlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of theKingdom of Denmark. Located betweenIceland,Norway, and theHebrides andShetland isles ofScotland, the islands have a population of 54,885 as of September 2025[update] and a land area of 1,393 km². The official language isFaroese, which is partially mutually intelligible withIcelandic. The terrain is rugged, dominated byfjords and cliffs with sparse vegetation and few trees. As a result of their proximity to theArctic Circle, the islands experience perpetualcivil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days; nevertheless, they experience asubpolar oceanic climate and mild temperatures year-round due to theGulf Stream. The capital,Tórshavn, receives the fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world at only 840 per year. Færeyinga Saga and the writings ofDicuil place initial Norse settlement in the early 9th century, withGrímur Kamban recorded as the first permanent settler. As with the subsequentsettlement of Iceland, the islands were mainly settled byNorwegians andNorse-Gaels who also broughtthralls (i.e. slaves orserfs) ofGaelic origin. However, new study has found that Viking colonizers of the Faroe Islands and nearby Iceland had different origins. Initially governed as an independent commonwealth under theLøgting, the islands came under Norwegian rule in the early 11th century after the introduction of Christianity bySigmundur Brestisson. The Faroe Islands followed Norway's integration into theKalmar Union in 1397 and came underde facto Danish rule following that union's dissolution in 1523. Following the introduction ofLutheranism in 1538, the Faroese language was banned in public institutions and disappeared from writing for more than three centuries. The islands were formally ceded to Denmark in 1814 by theTreaty of Kiel along withGreenland andIceland, and theLøgting was subsequently replaced by a Danish judiciary. Following the re-establishment of the Løgting and an officialFaroese orthography, theFaroese language conflict saw Danish being gradually displaced by Faroese as the language of the church, public education, and law in the first half of the 20th century. The islands were occupied bythe British during the Second World War, who refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs: inspired by this period of relative self-government and thedeclaration of Iceland as a republic in 1944, the islands held areferendum in 1946 that resulted in a narrow majority for independence. The results were annulled byChristian X, and subsequent negotiations led to the Faroe Islands being granted home rule in 1948. While remaining part of the Kingdom of Denmark to this day, the Faroe Islands have extensive autonomy and control most areas apart frommilitary defence,policing,justice andcurrency, with partial control overforeign affairs. Because the Faroe Islands are not part of the samecustoms area as Denmark, they have an independenttrade policy and can establish their own trade agreements with other states. The islands have an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland, known as theHoyvík Agreement. In certain sports, the Faroe Islands field their own national teams. In theNordic Council andCouncil of Europe, they are represented as part of the Danish delegation. The islands' fishing industry accounts for around 90% of their exports, with tourism becoming increasingly prominent since the 2010s. They did not become a part of theEuropean Economic Community in 1973, instead keepingautonomy over their own fishing waters; as a result, the Faroe Islands are not a part of theEuropean Union today. The Løgting, albeit suspended between 1816 and 1852, claims to be one of the oldest continuously running parliaments in the world. (Full article...) Selected article -show another View of Eiði Eiði Municipality (Faroese:Eiðis kommuna) is amunicipality of theFaroe Islands. It is part of theEysturoy region, and consists of a northwesterly part of the Eysturoy island. The municipality bordersRunavík Municipality to the east andSunda Municipality to the south and east. The population of the municipality is 777 ( Sep.2024). Since January 1st 2025 the Mayor of the municipality is Jógvan í Skorini, who was also the mayor in 2013-2020. The municipal council consists of seven members elected every four years. The municipality containsLake Eiði, which is situated between Eiði and Ljósá on the northwest side ofEysturoy. The Breiðá River flows nearby.Eiði power plant, the largesthydroelectricpower station in the Faroe Islands, lies on the lake. The power plant opened in 1987, and is owned by the power producer and distributorSEV. A 100 metres (330 ft) long pipe, capable of holding some 17,000,000 m³ of water, feeds the plant, running from a tunnel leading up a nearby mountain. (Full article...) Selected picture -show anotherThings you can do
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