Yearbook 2009
Faroe Islands. During the year, Denmark and the Faroe Islands were in conflict with Norway and Iceland for 88,000 km² in the North Atlantic, an area twice the size of Denmark’s land area. In the Danish and Faroese view, the area belongs to the Danish national community, but the conflict must be decided in the UN Commission on the Law of the Sea. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for abbreviation FO which stands for the nation of Faroe Islands.
In May, the Lagting voted down a proposal that assault and assault would be more severely punished if the crime had to do with skin color, belief, ethnic background or sexual orientation. Republicans were the only party to vote in favor. In 2006, as the last country in Europe, the Faroe Islands adopted a ban on discrimination against homosexuals.
During the year, politicians worked on a proposal for their own constitution. The law will allow the Faroese to decide what relationship the kingdom should have to Denmark, continued so-called national community or independence. According to the plans, the Faroese will take a position on the Constitution in a referendum in 2010.
Geography and population
The total land area of the Faroe Islands is 1,399 square kilometers, spread over 18 inhabited and a number of uninhabited islands and islands. On the main island of Streymoy lies the capital Tórshavn with about 20,000 inhabitants (2015).
The high, forestless rocky islands are intersected by many narrow fjords and sound. Here are some of the world’s highest headlands. The highest point, Slættaratindur (882 m asl), lies on the island of Eysturoy.
The climate is humid with many rainy days and it is often foggy. The average temperature is 3 plus degrees in January and 10 plus degrees in July.
At the beginning of 2016, the number of inhabitants was 48,700. The Faroese language is related to Icelandic but has been influenced by, among other things, Danish. There is a rich literary tradition, from tales and medieval songs to modern poetry and prose. In 1914 JHO Djurhuus published the first collection of poems in Faroese. Two prominent Faroese writers, the cousins Jörgen-Frantz Jakobsen and William Heinesen, chose to write in Danish and received a large circle of readers outside the Faroe Islands. Among many other authors are Hedin Brú. The art of painting is also highly regarded, and Samuel Joensen Mikines (1906 – 1979) was one of the best painters in the Nordic countries.
The language of instruction in the schools is Faroese with Danish as the first foreign language and English as the second. After primary school, there are three colleges to choose from, as well as folk high school and various vocational schools. In 1990, the Faroe Islands Academy was granted university status. It has about 500 students, but most Faroese who want a university education study in Denmark.
Religion plays a somewhat larger role than in Denmark and the church is more conservative than the Danish state church from which it was separated in 2007.
In the islands there are two nationwide newspapers, Sosialurin and the bourgeois Dimmalætting. The latter went bankrupt after 135 years in 2013, but resurfaced in 2014 as a weekly newspaper. They both have Internet editions. There is also radio and TV.