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90-447: Slættanes (pronounced [ˈslaʰtːaˌneːs] ) is a village on the island of Vágar in the western Faroes , which is now abandoned and only used as summer homes. Slættanes, like the also-abandoned village of Víkar , is on the northern coast of the island. It was founded in 1835 by a man named Hendrik Thomasen and belonged to the municipality of Sandavágur in the south. During its best years (1945 to 1950) around 130 people lived in

180-430: A phono-semantic match . Archaeological studies from 2021 found evidence of settlement on the islands before the arrival of Norse settlers, uncovering burnt grains of domesticated barley and peat ash deposited in two phases: the first dated between the mid-fourth and mid-sixth centuries, and another between the late-sixth and late-eighth centuries. Researchers have also found sheep DNA in lake-bed sediments dating to

270-635: A campaign against Hamburg which on 30 June was re-conquered by allied French and Danish forces. When Prussia finally accepted the Swedish claim to Norway on 22 July, Sweden joined the alliance of Reichenbach concluded between Russia, the United Kingdom and Prussia on 14/15 June. With three armies (North, Main and Silesian , the Northern army under Bernadotte's command), the allies subsequently cleared Northern Germany of French forces. Denmark, who had maintained

360-572: A claim as one of the oldest continuously running parliaments in the world. The islands' endonym Føroyar , as well as its English name Faroe Islands (alt. Faeroe or the Faroes ), derive from the Old Norse Færeyjar . The second element oyar ('islands') is a holdover from Old Faroese ; sound changes have rendered the word's modern form as oyggjar . Names for individual islands (such as Kalsoy and Suðuroy ) also preserve

450-563: A constitution and elected the Swedish king to the Norwegian throne. So Danish sovereignty over Norway was superseded with Swedish sovereignty over Norway. As of 1814 a distinction was made between genuine Norwegians and those allegedly un-Norwegian . The Norwegian elite used this identity labeling to resist Swedification . Due to the refusal of Norway to subordinate itself to the Swedish king, Charles XIII of Sweden did not hand over Swedish Pomerania to Frederick VI of Denmark . The problem

540-525: A group of islands north of Scotland of very similar character to the Faroe Islands in his work De mensura orbis terrae ("Of the measure of the worlds of the earth"). In this text, Dicuil describes "a group of small islands (...) Nearly all of them (...) separated by narrow stretches of water" that were "always deserted since the beginning of time" and previously populated by heremitae ex nostra Scotia (" hermits from our land of Ireland/Scotland") for almost

630-607: A hundred years before being displaced by the arrival of Norse "pirates". Church argued that these were likely the eremitic Papar that had similarly resided in parts of Iceland and Scotland in the same period. Writers like Brøgger and Peter Andreas Munch had drawn the same connections from Dicuil's writings, with the latter arguing that these Papar were also the ones to bring sheep to the islands. A ninth-century voyage tale concerning Irish saint Brendan , one of Dicuil's contemporaries, details him visiting an unnamed northern group of islands; this has also been argued to be referring to

720-452: A millennium, was dissolved and replaced by a Danish judiciary, and the post of løgmaður ( lawspeaker ) was likewise replaced by a Danish-appointed amtmand (equivalent to a governor-general). As part of its mercantilist economic policy, Denmark maintained a monopoly over trade with the Faroe Islands and forbade the Faroese from trading with other countries. The trade monopoly in

810-487: A period of high volcanic activity in the Early Palaeogene around 50–60 million years ago. The islands are built up in layers of different lava flows (basalt) alternating with thin layers of volcanic ash (tuff). The soft ash and the hard basalt thus lie layer upon layer in narrow and thick strips. The soft tuff or ash zones erode away relatively quickly, and the hard lump of basalt above the eroded tuff falls away, forming

900-489: A province long coveted by Prussia , he negotiated an agreement that Prussia would not attack it. Denmark remained neutral. In 1807, Napoleonic forces seized Swedish Pomerania and forced Prussia and Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit . Russia was therein obliged to attack Napoleon's enemies, and since Gustav IV Adolf refused to break his alliance with the United Kingdom, the tsar invaded Finland and severed it from Sweden in

990-430: A republic in 1944 served as a precedent and a model in the mind of many Faroe Islanders. The Løgting held an independence referendum on 14 September 1946 , resulting in a very narrow majority for independence; 50.73% voted in favour and 49.27% against; the margin was only 161 votes. The Løgting subsequently declared independence on 18 September 1946; this declaration was annulled by Denmark on 20 September, arguing that

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1080-520: A short distance to the south. Snow also is seen at a much higher frequency than on outlying islands nearby. The area receives on average 49 frosts a year. The collection of meteorological data on the Faroe Islands began in 1867. Winter recording began in 1891, and the warmest winter occurred in 2016–17 with an average temperature of 6.1 °C (43 °F). The Faroes belong to the Faroe Islands boreal grasslands ecoregion. The natural vegetation of

1170-631: A survey sponsored by NATO , the British Museum (Natural History) and the Carlsberg Foundation, is preserved in the Ulster Museum (catalogue numbers: F3195–F3307). It is one of ten exsiccatae sets. A few small plantations consisting of plants collected from similar climates such as Tierra del Fuego in South America and Alaska thrive on the islands. The bird fauna of the Faroe Islands

1260-518: A tropical system. The climate varies greatly over small distances, due to the altitude, ocean currents, topography, and winds. Precipitation varies considerably throughout the archipelago. In some highland areas, snow cover may last for months with snowfalls possible for the greater part of the year (on the highest peaks, summer snowfall is by no means rare), while in some sheltered coastal locations, several years pass without any snowfall whatsoever. Tórshavn receives frosts more often than other areas just

1350-585: A westward ice mass have eroded the intervening mountain range into a narrow ridge. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing country under the external sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Faroese government holds executive power in local government affairs. The head of the government is called the Løgmaður ("Chief Justice") and serves as Prime Minister and head of the Faroese Government. Any other member of

1440-497: Is Lítla Dímun . The islands are rugged and rocky with some low peaks; the coasts are mostly cliffs. The highest point is Slættaratindur in northern Eysturoy , 882 metres (2,894 ft) above sea level . The Faroe Islands are made up of an approximately six-kilometres-thick succession of mostly basaltic lava that was part of the great North Atlantic Igneous Province during the Paleogene period. The lavas were erupted during

1530-518: Is a local domestic sheep breed, the Faroe sheep (depicted on the coat of arms ), and there once was a variety of feral sheep , which survived on Lítla Dímun until the mid-nineteenth century. Grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) are common around the shorelines away from human habitations. Several species of cetacea live in the waters around the Faroe Islands. Best known are the long-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala melaena ), which still are hunted by

1620-459: Is dominated by seabirds and birds attracted to open land such as heather , probably because of the lack of woodland and other suitable habitats. Many species have developed special Faroese sub-species such as the common eider , common starling , Eurasian wren , and black guillemot . The pied raven , a colour morph of the North Atlantic subspecies of the common raven , was endemic to

1710-461: Is reflected today in the Faroese genetic makeup and a number of loanwords from Old Irish. A traditional name for the islands in Irish , Na Scigirí , possibly derives from Eyja-Skeggjar , ("Island-Beards"), a nickname given to island dwellers. According to Færeyinga saga , many of the Norwegian settlers in particular were spurred by their disapproval of the monarchy of Harald Fairhair , whose rule

1800-637: 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 (54 °F) in summer and 5 °C (41 °F) 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

1890-656: The Congress of Vienna in 1815. After a short war with Sweden , Norway accepted entering into a personal union with Sweden at the Convention of Moss . King Christian Frederik abdicated after convening an extraordinary Storting , which revised the Constitution to allow for the Union. It was formally established when the Storting elected Charles XIII as king of Norway on 4 November 1814. In

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1980-529: The Danish kingdom . Treaty of Kiel Frederick VI of Denmark joined the anti-French alliance, ceded Heligoland to George III of the United Kingdom , and further ceded the Kingdom of Norway to Charles XIII , to enter a union with Sweden, in return for Swedish Pomerania . Specifically excluded from the exchange were the Norwegian dependencies of Greenland , Iceland and the Faroe Islands , which remained in

2070-556: The Duchy of Lauenburg . This duchy was then handed over from Prussia to Denmark, along with an additional payment of 3.5 million talers . Prussia also took over a Danish debt to Sweden of 600,000 talers, and agreed on an additional payment of 2 million talers to Sweden. Denmark and Sweden in turn relinquished their claims to Swedish Pomerania in favour of Prussia. Charles XIII of Sweden then released his Pomeranian subjects from their obligations towards Sweden on 1 October 1815, and on 23 October

2160-525: The Finnish War , 1808/1809. Sweden could no longer uphold her anti-French foreign policy , and French Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was elected heir to the Swedish throne in 1810. Denmark–Norway entered an alliance with France after the second British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. In 1812, Napoleon's forces were decimated in their failed attempt to subdue Russia, and started their westward retreat. Sweden allied with Russia on 30 August 1812, with

2250-501: The Folketing . Until 2007, there were seven electoral districts, which were abolished on 25 October of that year in favour of a single nationwide district. Administratively, the islands are divided into 29 municipalities ( kommunur ) within which there are 120 or so settlements . There are also the six traditional s ýslur : Norðoyar , Eysturoy , Streymoy , Vágar , Sandoy , and Suðuroy . While no longer of any legal significance,

2340-727: The Hoyvík Agreement . In the Nordic Council , they are represented as part of the Danish delegation. In certain sports, the Faroe Islands field their own national teams. They did not become a part of the European Economic Community in 1973, instead keeping autonomy over their own fishing waters; as a result, the Faroe Islands are not a part of the European Union today. The Løgting, albeit suspended between 1816 and 1852, holds

2430-564: The Treaty of Kiel along with Greenland and Iceland , and the Løgting was subsequently replaced by a Danish judiciary. Following the re-establishment of the Løgting and an official Faroese orthography , the Faroese 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 by

2520-521: The Union Party ( Sambandsflokkurin ), founded in 1906, which supported Faroese literature but opposed its usage in education; and the Self-Government party ( Sjálvstýrisflokkurin ), which sought to introduce Faroese as the official language in all public spheres and additionally demanded increased political autonomy for the islands. The Faroese language gradually won out; laws and protocols of

2610-642: The 16th and 17th centuries, arguing that the West Norse-speaking settlers, whose word for sheep was sauðr instead of the East Norse fær , could not have coined it from this exact origin. Debes surmised that it could have derived from fjær ('far'), while Hammershaimb leaned towards fara ('to go, to travel'). Others have theorised an Old Irish origin: relating it to the etymologies of neighbouring Orkney and Shetland , Scottish writers James Currie and William J. Watson suggested respectively

2700-563: The British during the Second World War , who refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs: inspired by this period of relative self-government and the declaration of Iceland as a republic in 1944 , the islands held a referendum in 1946 that resulted in a narrow majority for independence. The results were annulled by Christian X , and subsequent negotiations led to the Faroe Islands being granted home rule in 1948. While remaining part of

2790-550: The Danish administration to hand over all civilian and military administrative documents and archives concerning Norway. Article XVII provided for a mutual exchange of all prisoners of war. According to article XV, allied troops were to leave the Danish Duchy of Schleswig (Slesvig), but were allowed to remain in the German confederal Duchy of Holstein (Holsten), ruled in personal union with Denmark and Schleswig, to participate in

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2880-569: The Danish king could choose within the next six years whether they would finally settle in Norway or Denmark, whereby property in the realm which would not become the permanent residence was to be sold only to inhabitants of this realm. This provision was also enacted with respect to Swedish Pomerania. In article XVI, it was agreed that the governors general and all foreign-born officials of the exchanged territories, as long as they did not decide to remain, were removed from their offices. Article XXI obliged

2970-561: The Danish king to negotiate further compensation for Denmark's territorial cessions to Sweden in a pending final peace. In article XIII, older Dano-British treaties were confirmed. The articles added in Brussels were concerned with the property of Danish subjects in the colonies or in ceded territories, which was to remain untouched by the British for the next three years, and equal treatment of Danish, British and Hanoveranian subjects, who were not to be prosecuted because of their participation in

3060-485: The Dano-British treaty confirms his obligation to put part of his army under Swedish command. In article IV, the Danish king in his and his successors' name "irrevocably and forever" renounced claims to the Kingdom of Norway , which would enter a union with Sweden under the Swedish king. The Norwegian kingdom was defined as consisting of the bishoprics of Christiansand , Bergen , Akershus and Trondheim , as well as

3150-473: The Faroe Islands had a parliament ( Løgting ), which was abolished in 1816, and the Faroe Islands were to be governed as an ordinary Danish amt (county), with the Amtmand as its head of government. In 1851, the Løgting was reinstated, but, until 1948, served mainly as an advisory body. The islands are home to a notable independence movement that has seen an increase in popular support within recent decades. At

3240-517: The Faroe Islands is dominated by arctic-alpine plants, wildflowers, grasses, moss, and lichen. Most of the lowland area is grassland and some is heath, dominated by shrubby heathers, mainly Calluna vulgaris . Among the herbaceous flora that occur in the Faroe Islands is the cosmopolitan marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre . Although it is often asserted that the islands are naturally treeless, several tree species, among them shrubby willows ( salix ), junipers ( juniperus ), and stunted birches, colonized

3330-545: The Faroe Islands on 30 March 1948. This agreement granted the islands a high degree of autonomy, and Faroese finally became the official language in all public spheres. In 1973 the Faroe Islands declined to join Denmark in entering the European Economic Community (EEC); as a result, the islands are not part of the European Union (EU) today (although as Danish citizens, Faroe Islanders are still considered EU citizens). Following

3420-550: The Faroe Islands was eventually abolished in 1856, after which the area developed into a modern fishing-based economy with its own fishing fleet . In 1846, the Faroe Islands finally regained formal political representation when they were allocated two seats in the Danish Rigsdag ; the Løgting itself was reinstated as an advisory body to the amtmand in 1852. An official Faroese orthography was first introduced in 1846 by Lutheran minister Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb , returning

3510-412: The Faroe Islands, but now has become extinct; the ordinary, all-black morph remains fairly widespread in the archipelago. Only a few species of wild land mammals are found in the Faroe Islands today, all introduced by humans. Three species are thriving on the islands today: mountain hare ( Lepus timidus ), brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ), and the house mouse ( Mus musculus ). Apart from these, there

3600-547: The Faroe Islands, though not nearly as conclusively. A number of toponyms around the islands refer to the Papar and the Irish, such as Paparøkur near Vestmanna and Papurshílsur near Saksun . Vestmanna is itself short for Vestmannahøvn ("harbour of the Westmen "). Tombstones in a churchyard on Skúvoy display a possible Gaelic origin or influence. Old Norse-speaking settlers arrived in

3690-522: The Faroe Islands, with cold summers and near-continuous subpolar winds. The following species from Tierra del Fuego , Drimys winteri , Nothofagus antarctica , Nothofagus pumilio , and Nothofagus betuloides , have been successfully introduced to the Faroe Islands. A non-Chilean species that has been introduced is the black cottonwood , also known as the California poplar ( Populus trichocarpa ). A collection of Faroese marine algae resulting from

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3780-493: The Kingdom of Denmark to this day, the Faroe Islands have extensive autonomy and control most areas apart from military defence , policing , justice and currency , with partial control over its foreign affairs . Because the Faroe Islands are not part of the same customs area as Denmark, they have an independent trade policy and are able to establish their own trade agreements with other states. The islands have an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland, known as

3870-635: The Løgting were written in Faroese from 1927 onwards, schools switched to Faroese as the language of instruction in 1938, and Faroese was fully authorised as the language of the Church the following year. Finally in 1944, Faroese gained equal status with Danish in legal proceedings. In the first year of the Second World War , on 12 April 1940, British troops occupied the Faroe Islands in Operation Valentine . Nazi Germany had invaded Denmark and commenced

3960-561: 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 a similar distance from Iceland , Norway , and the United Kingdom , the islands have a total area of about 1,400 square kilometres (540 sq mi) with a population of 54,676 as of August 2023. The terrain

4050-423: The Swedish crown prince. This Danish contingent was to be treated the same way the Swedish contingent was treated, and the Danish king was to receive an annual 400,000 pounds of British subsidies for maintenance and pay of the army, to be paid in monthly installments as soon as the army entered Allied service. Article VIII was concerned with the abolishment of slave trade . In article X, the British king promised

4140-648: The Treaty of Kiel. This was supported by the majority of people living in Sweden. However, the Swedish elite in Christiania supported resistance. The bishop Johan Nordahl Brun wrote to Claus Pavels and urged his religious colleagues in Christiania to grab their rifles so as to never surrender. There was a brief war but a ceasefire allowed for the union between Norway and Sweden to be established. The Norwegian Parliament voted for

4230-471: The United Kingdom on 3 March 1813, and with Prussia on 22 April 1813. Previously, on 23 March 1813, she had declared war on Napoleon. Bernadotte's condition for entering the anti-Napoleonic alliance was the gain of Norway, which the United Kingdom and Russia accepted in May 1813. Prussia however did not acknowledge this claim at first. Thus, Bernadotte hesitated to enter the war with full force, and only engaged in

4320-530: The United Kingdom was obliged to return all occupied Danish possessions to the Danish king. Excepted was the island of Heligoland , where the British king was granted "full and unlimited sovereignty". In article VI, the Danish king joined the anti- Napoleonic alliance, and obliged himself to maintain an army of 10,000 men that was to be joined to the Allied forces in Northern Germany and likewise be commanded by

4410-462: The alliance with Napoleon because of the Swedish claim to Norway, was isolated and, as a consequence of the war, bankrupt. Bernadotte, now free to attack Denmark after Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig in Mid-October, took his combined Swedish/Russian Army and quickly defeated the outnumbered Danish Army and occupied Holstein and Schleswig during late December 1813. Frederick VI agreed to make peace once it

4500-663: The beginning of the Napoleonic Wars , Denmark–Norway and the Kingdom of Sweden tried to maintain neutrality but soon became involved in the fighting, joining opposite camps. Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf entered an alliance with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Russian Empire against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805, and declared war on Napoleonic France . The United Kingdom, which had declared war on France in 1803, paid subsidies to Sweden. Before Gustav IV Adolf marched his forces out of Swedish Pomerania ,

4590-676: The cabinet is called a Minister of the Faroese Government ( landsstýrismaður/ráðharri if male, landsstýriskvinna/ráðfrú if female). The Faroese parliament – the Løgting ("Law Thing ") – dates back to the early days of settlement and claims to be one of the longest functioning parliaments in the world, alongside the Icelandic Althing and the Manx Tynwald . The parliament currently has 33 members. Elections are held at municipal and national levels, additionally electing two members to

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4680-562: The cession of Norway in a pending final peace, and the cession of Swedish Pomerania is described as a "proof" of this intention. In article XII, the king of Sweden promised to maintain the Norwegian University of Christiania, and the Pomeranian University of Greifswald , which was to pass to Denmark according to article VII, and confirmed donations made before the exchange. Also, it was agreed in article XX that subjects of

4770-586: The closest neighbours being the Northern Isles and the Outer Hebrides of Scotland . Its coordinates are 62°00′N 06°47′W  /  62.000°N 6.783°W  / 62.000; -6.783 . Distance from the Faroe Islands to: The islands cover an area of 1,399 square kilometres (540 sq. mi) and have small lakes and rivers, but no major ones. There are 1,117 kilometres (694 mi) of coastline. The only significant uninhabited island

4860-484: The coastal islands and the northern regions of Nordland and Finnmark to the Russian border. Excepted were Greenland , Iceland and the Faroe Islands . The Norwegian subjects were freed of their obligations to the Danish king. In article VI, the Swedish crown took over the debts and financial obligations of Norway, which was to be determined by a joint Dano-Swedish commission. Article VII ruled that Swedish Pomerania

4950-536: The collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s, the Faroes experienced considerable economic difficulties. The Faroe Islands are an island group consisting of 18 major islands (and a total of 779 islands, islets , and skerries ) about 655 kilometres (407 mi) off the coast of Northern Europe, between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean , about halfway between Iceland and Norway ,

5040-405: The course of volcanism and the age sequence of the layers. There are major differences in the shapes of the islands' terraces. The lowest and oldest series are thick lava deposits that can be seen on the southern part of Suðuroy, Mykines and Tindhólmur and the western side of Vágar. The basalts of the lower basalt series are often pillared, which is shown by elongated, angular and regular pillars in

5130-549: The early 9th century, and their Old West Norse dialect would later evolve into the modern Faroese language . A number of the settlers were Norse–Gaels who did not come directly from Scandinavia, but rather from Norse communities that spanned the Irish Sea , Northern Isles , and Outer Hebrides of Scotland , including the Shetland and Orkney islands; these settlers also brought thralls of Gaelic origin with them, and this admixture

5220-458: The encirclement of Hamburg . In article XXVII, former Dano-Swedish peaces were confirmed as long as their provisions were not in conflict with the treaty of Kiel, namely the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) , the Treaty of Stockholm (June 1720) , the Treaty of Frederiksborg (July 1720) and the Treaty of Jönköping (1809). A separate article was concerned with the cession of hostilities. The Swedish crown prince intended to invade Norway to enforce

5310-402: The end of World War II , some of the population favoured independence from Denmark, and on 14 September 1946, an independence referendum was held on the question of secession . It was a consultative referendum, the parliament not being bound to follow the people's vote. This was the first time that the Faroese people had been asked whether they favoured independence or wanted to continue within

5400-490: The fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world at only 840 per year. While archaeological evidence places the first known habitation as early as the 4th century, 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 (i.e. slaves or serfs ) of Gaelic origin. Following

5490-403: The first terrace. Volcanic activity has varied over millions of years, with periods of quiescence and various periods of quiet eruptive fissures and explosive volcanism. In a few places, mainly on Suðuroy, thin layers of coal are present, which are the remains of swamp forests from the time between volcanic eruptions. The plateau has therefore been divided into different basalt series according to

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5580-459: The heights, often resulting in a characteristic curved landscape shape. This can be clearly seen on Vágar, the northernmost part of Streymoy and the north-western part of Eysturoy. Glacial activity has reduced plateau surfaces, especially on the northern islands, where the surfaces have been reduced to a series of narrower or wider zig-zag rows along the length of the islands: especially on the islands of Kunoy, Kalsoy and Borðoy, where an eastward and

5670-585: The introduction of Christianity by Sigmundur Brestisson , the islands came under Norwegian rule in the early 11th century. The Faroe Islands followed Norway's integration into the Kalmar Union in 1397, and came under de facto Danish rule following that union's dissolution in 1523. Following the introduction of Lutheranism in 1538, the usage of Faroese was banned in churches, schools and state institutions, and disappeared from writing for more than three centuries. The islands were formally ceded to Denmark in 1814 by

5760-525: The invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 under Operation Weserübung . In 1942–1943, the British Royal Engineers , under the command of lieutenant colonel William Law, built the first and only airport in the Faroe Islands, Vágar Airport . The British refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs, and the islands became effectively self-governing during the war. After the war ended and the British army left, this period and Iceland 's declaration as

5850-575: The island after the Ice Age, but disappeared later - apparently as a result of grazing impacts, possibly aggravated by a shift to relatively wetter cooler climatic conditions about the same time. A limited number of species have been successfully introduced to the region, in particular trees from the Magellanic subpolar forests region of Chile. Conditions in the Magellanic subpolar forests are similar to those in

5940-457: The islanders in accordance with longstanding local tradition. Orcas ( Orcinus orca ) are regular visitors around the islands. The domestic animals of the Faroe Islands are a result of 1,200 years of isolated breeding. As a result, many of the islands' domestic animals are found nowhere else in the world. Faroese domestic breeds include Faroe pony , Faroe cow , Faroe sheep, Faroese goose , and Faroese duck . The islands were built up during

6030-478: The islands coming under de facto Danish control. When the Protestant Reformation reached the Faroe Islands in 1538, the Faroese language was also outlawed in schools, churches and official documentation; thus Faroese remained exclusively a spoken language until the 19th century. Following the Napoleonic Wars , the union between Denmark and Norway was dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814; while Norway

6120-467: The language to print after 300 years of only existing in oral form. With the return of written Faroese to the public sphere after more than 300 years, nationalism gained a foothold in Faroese society: the modern Faroese national movement is commonly agreed to have begun with the Christmas Meeting of 1888 , held to "discuss how to defend the Faroese language and Faroese traditions". This meeting led to

6210-645: The meadow and now serve as summer houses for the former residents and their relatives. Postal service once arrived by foot from Sørvágur, and then later by a regular boat service from Vestmanna . Faroes in Europe  (green and dark grey) in the Kingdom of Denmark  (yellow) The Faroe or Faeroe Islands ( / ˈ f ɛər oʊ / FAIR -oh ), or simply the Faroes ( Faroese : Føroyar , pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ] ; Danish : Færøerne [ˈfeɐ̯ˌøˀɐnə] ), are an archipelago in

6300-423: The mountain side. Very regular vertical columns are found on northern Mykines, where they can be up to 30 metres (100 ft) high. The middle basalt series consists of thin lava flows with a highly porous interlayer. This series has very little resistance to crumbling and weathering. As these erosion processes are more severe at higher altitudes than lower down, the lowlands are filled with weathering material from

6390-714: The mountains, although some coastal or low-lying areas may have very mild-winter versions of a tundra climate. The overall character of the climate of the islands is influenced by the strong warming influence of the Atlantic Ocean, which produces the North Atlantic Current . This, together with the remoteness of any source of landmass-induced warm or cold airflows, ensures that winters are mild (mean temperature 3.0 to 4.0 °C or 37 to 39 °F) while summers are cool (mean temperature 9.5 to 10.5 °C or 49 to 51 °F). The islands are windy, cloudy, and cool throughout

6480-481: The number of invalid votes (481) being greater than the narrow margin in favour made the result invalid. As a result, King Christian X of Denmark ordered that the Faroese Løgting be dissolved on 24 September, with new elections held that November. The Faroese parliamentary election of 1946 resulted in a majority for parties opposed to independence: following protracted negotiations, Denmark granted home rule to

6570-459: The old form. The name's ultimate etymological origin has been subject to dispute. The most widely-held theory, first attested in Færeyinga Saga , interprets it as a straightforward compound of fær ('sheep') and eyjar ('islands'), meaning "sheep islands", in reference to their abundance on the archipelago. Clergymen Peder Clausson and Lucas Debes began casting doubt on this theory in

6660-509: 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. The climate is classed as subpolar oceanic climate according to the Köppen climate classification : Cfc , with areas having a tundra climate, especially in

6750-552: The province was handed over to von Ingersleben, president of Prussian Pomerania . Between 1931 and 1933, Norway contested the Danish possession of all of Greenland at the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague . As of December 2008 , this was the only case where possession of a polar territory was ever decided by an international court. The Norwegian side argued that Denmark did not hold rights to any part of

6840-400: The rise of two of the movement's most prominent early figures: Jóannes Patursson and Rasmus Effersøe . It was initially exclusively concerned with the status of the Faroese language , but it soon gained a political dimension with the advent of the Faroese language conflict in the early 20th century. Both sides of the conflict were represented by the country's first-ever political parties:

6930-575: The term is still commonly used to indicate a geographical region. In earlier times, each sýsla had its own assembly , the so-called várting ("spring assembly"). The Faroe Islands have been under Norwegian-Danish control since 1388. The 1814 Treaty of Kiel terminated the Danish–Norwegian union, and Norway came under the rule of the King of Sweden , while the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland remained Danish possessions. From ancient times

7020-496: The union with Denmark. (Norway would unsuccessfully contest the Danish claim to all of Greenland in the Eastern Greenland Case of 1931–33. ) However, not all provisions of the treaty would come into force. Norway declared its independence, adopted a constitution and elected Crown Prince Christian Frederik as its own king. Sweden therefore refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania , which instead passed to Prussia after

7110-533: The village, but the average population was around 70. There were 12 houses in Slættanes. However, in 1965 the last inhabitants left the community because of its relatively isolated location. A road was never built to Slættanes, but there are many trails there. One goes to Sandavágur in the southeast, another to Sørvágur to the south, and yet another goes west to Gásadalur . In the village itself there are no streets or discernible paths. The houses stand dispersed across

7200-455: The war on different sides, nor because of their political or religious beliefs. The treaty between the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke (Burke) and Swedish envoy Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt with British mediation. It consisted of 28 articles and one separate article. In article III, the Danish king promised to join the alliance against Napoleonic France , and with reference to

7290-476: The words feur ('pasture, eaten-up outfield') and fearann ('land, territory') as possible derivations, arguing that the original Celtic attestations of the islands made this more likely. Archaeologist Anton Wilhelm Brøgger concurred, elaborating on Watson's theory by positing that the Norse, having first learned of the islands from Scottish and Irish accounts as a fearann , could have coined Færeyjar as

7380-452: The year 500. Barley and sheep had to have been brought to the islands by humans; as Scandinavians did not begin using sails until about 750, it is unlikely they could have reached the Faroes before then, leading to the study concluding that the settlers were more likely to originate from Scotland or Ireland. These findings concur with historical accounts from the same period: archaeologist Mike Church noted that Irish monk Dicuil described

7470-400: The year with an average of 210 rainy or snowy days per year. The islands lie in the path of depressions moving northeast, making strong winds and heavy rain possible at all times of the year. Sunny days are rare and overcast days are common. Hurricane Faith struck the Faroe Islands on 5 September 1966 with sustained winds over 100 mph (160 km/h) and only then did the storm cease to be

7560-453: Was also seen as an inciting factor for the Settlement of Iceland . The founding date of the Løgting is not historically documented, though the saga implies that it was a well-established institution by the middle of the 10th century, when a legal dispute between chieftains Havgrímur and Einar Suðuroyingur, resulting in the exile of Eldjárn Kambhøttur, is recounted in detail. Christianity

7650-508: Was clear that Bernadotte would occupy Jutland and Zealand (with British naval assistance), if necessary to force the Norwegian cession. The treaty between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke and the British envoy at the Swedish court, Edward Thornton . It consisted of 14 articles, to which two articles were added in Brussels on 7 April. In article III,

7740-589: Was defined particularly by Sigmundur's conflict with rival chieftain Tróndur í Gøtu , the latter of whom was converted under threat of decapitation. Although their conflict resulted in Sigmundur's murder, the Islands fell firmly under Norwegian rule following Tróndur's death in 1035. While the Faroe Islands formally remained a Norwegian possession until 1814, Norway 's merger into the Kalmar Union in 1397 gradually resulted in

7830-529: Was introduced to the islands in the late 10th and early 11th centuries by chieftain Sigmundur Brestisson . Baptised as an adult by then- King of Norway Olaf Tryggvason , his mission to introduce Christianity was part of a greater plan to seize the islands on behalf of the Norwegian crown. While Christianity arrived at the same time as in Iceland , the process was met with much more conflict and violence, and

7920-578: Was solved at the Congress of Vienna , when the Great Powers followed a plan worked out by Karl August von Hardenberg , prime minister of the Kingdom of Prussia , who proposed a ring exchange of territories and payments between the Kingdom of Denmark , the Kingdom of Hanover (ruled in personal union with Great Britain and Ireland ), the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Sweden . According to Hardenberg's plan, Prussia ceded East Frisia with Emden to Hanover, and in exchange received from Hanover

8010-422: Was to be handed over to Denmark. In article XV, it was ruled that the Swedish forces were to take over the Norwegian fortresses as soon as the treaty was ratified, and that they were to abandon Swedish Pomerania as soon as the Norwegian fortresses Fredriksten , Fredrikstad , Kongsvinger and Akershus were handed over. In article XIII, the Swedish king promised the Danish king to negotiate full compensation for

8100-528: Was transferred to the Swedish Crown, Denmark retained possession of Norway's North Atlantic territories, which included the Faroe Islands along with Greenland and Iceland. Shortly afterwards, Denmark asserted control and began to restrict the islands' autonomy. In 1816, the Faroe Islands was reconstituted as a county ( amt ) within the Danish Kingdom : the Løgting , having operated continuously for almost

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