Talk:Faroe Islands

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[edit] msg:Europe box

My feeling is that it's not appropriate to have the msg:Europe box on here, when the Faroes aren't listed in that box. What does anyone else think?--ALargeElk 13:50, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

They are listed in that box in my browser. I have removed msg:amt because the faroe islands is not a countie of denmark.--Quackor 10:12, 28 May 2004 (UTC+1)

[edit] Sports of the Faeroe Islands

What are the most popular and/or national sports of the Faeroe Islands?

The national sport must be soccer (football). There are many popular sports including but not limited to football, rowing, handball, badminton and swimming. SverriMO 05:55, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The governing of the Faroe Islands prior to 1948

I have updated the main article to include more information on the relationship between the Faroe Islands and Denmark, particularly the governing of Faroe Islands prior to 1948, including bits on the referendum on Sep. 14 1946. The previous version did not include much information on this. I have tried my best to keep this NPOV. --Mecil 06:48, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dependency?

Are the Faroe Islands a Danish dependency? If the islands are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, how can they be regarded as a dependendy which have to be bodies formally not a part of the motherland? Jakro64 16:33, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Hm, maybe my English is to worse, so I don't know the exact meaning of a "dependency", but the Faroes are one of te three countries within the Danish Kingdom: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroes. Denmark is not the "motherland" of the Faroes, for the Faroese are no Danes, but form an own nation. Ofcourse there are about 5% Danish speaking people living in the Faroes, and ofcourse, the Faroese learn Danish up from the 3rd class as second language... However, the Faroes are NOT a colony of Denmark (eventhough some nationalists and people from abroad think so), but a European and Scandinavian nation. They are just not fully souvereign and no republic, for ca. 50 % of the Faroese don't want it. If they would want it, Denmark will not stop them in building an own state with full souvereignity. But before this happens (a majority for this way), I guess, they'd to explore their oil and/or merge with Iceland and Greenland. (But this is my private oppinion). Arne List 14:36, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

The Faroes are not a danish dependency. The Faroes are not and have never been incorporated properly into the danish kingdom altough many people think they have. The danish constitution has never been properly established as the constitution of Faroe. It would be more precise to say that the Faroes are crown possession like Isle of Man. But the fact is that the Faroes are not an internationally recognized state, so to the international community they are part of the danish state, although this is not reality. The Home Rule act of 1948 is by some experts regarded as a treaty between two independent states with one king and some political cooperation. The first words in the Home Rule Act are, my translation:"The Faroes are an independent nation within the danish kingdom accordig to this law". Meaning two independent nations or states with one king. But only one is internationally recognized. You might call the Faroes a pre-state, a word used about countries on the brink of becoming fully independent. --JJ-Hammer 16:07, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The Faroe Islands are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. They aren't a dependency, but rather are a self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark (since 1948). Before this I believe that they were indeed a dependency/colony? The official governing constitution is the Danish constitution of 5 June 1953.

I think you are confusing the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. The three communites had different relations to metropolitan Denmark.

Iceland: From 1918-1944 Iceland was a kingdom in union with the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1944 Iceland declared itself an independent republic and remains so to this day with no connection to Denmark.

Faroe Islands: Before 1948 the Faroe Islands were governed as a "normal" Danish county ("Amt") and were an integrated province of the Kingdom of Denmark. An example of this status can be seen in the fact that in 1940, following the German occupation of Denmark, the local administration on the Faroe Islands had all bank notes used on the islands stamped with the words "Færø Amt" to distinguish them from the currency of occupied Denmark. In 1948, the Faroe Islands were granted extensive home rule and still enjoy these rights. The Faroe Islands use this own bank notes issued by the National Bank of Denmark (but uses Danish coins.) The notes are in fact the standard Danish notes with a different print, and are officially considered to be standard Danish bank notes (although few Danes realise this.) Faroese bank notes can be exchanged 1:1 to standard Danish bank notes in Danish banks.

Greenland: Before 1953, Greenland was considered to be a colony of Denmark. In 1953 it was annexed to Denmark proper and became an integrated part of Denmark. In 1979, home rule was introduced in Greenland, with the home rule enjoyed by the Faroe Islands as inspiration. Greenland uses both Danish coins and bank notes. Unless specifically stated, laws passed by the Danish parliament the Folketing do not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. I hope this clears things up. --Valentinian 29 June 2005 01:04 (UTC)

Thats very interesting, and sounds very similar to the policital arrangements in the United Kingdom (Iceland-Denmark relationship is similar to Scotland-England and previously Ireland-England). Is there a name for this type of political arrangement? Its quite different from federalism or the French and Portugese system (Where many colonies such as French Guiana or (previously) Brazil were considered completely part of the home nation). I recently read a book which touched on the brief federalist movement in Britian in the 1920's (It was proposed to reform the UK into a proper federation, with regional parliaments, as a solution to Irish demands for independence. These ideas are sometimes mentioned today in relation to the new Scottish and Welch assemblies) Was there any such movement in Denmark? Seabhcán 29 June 2005 12:49 (UTC)

I agree there are similarities, but the Danish construction is very different from a federal state. Iceland was granted independence (in union with Denmark) in 1918 following years and years of Danish neglect of the island and increasing demands for home rule or outright independence (the results somewhat resembled the Irish Free State.) The arrangement was never a success, and Iceland didn't have an independent foreign policy. It was conducted by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen, and was, in reality, little more than promoting the interests of Icelandic fish exports and replacing the line "the King of Denmark" with "the King of Denmark and Iceland".

Home rule for the Faroe Islands was introduced in 1948 as a response to increased calls for independence there as well (though several Danish politicians opposed this, fearing the dissolution of the nation. Ultimately, they decided to consider home rule to be a lesser evil than outright Faroese independence.) Besides, the separation from Denmark proper during World War II had clearly proven that the Faroese people were capable of managing more of its own affairs than had previously been believed in Denmark. When similar wishes were expressed by Greenland in the 1970s, the issue had become less controversial and home rule was accepted by the leading political parties in Denmark.

But back to your questions (I use the Danish terms.) 1) The present construction is known as Rigsfællesskabet (literally, the Community of the Realm) and is virtually synonomous with Det Danske Rige (The Danish Realm, thus avoiding the name "Denmark".) Det Danske Rige is ruled by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II (her title Danmarks Dronning - literally Denmark's Queen is, however, considered to comprise all three territories / nations / countries depending on your point-of-view.) Internationally speaking, the word "Denmark" is usually used both regarding the territory of Denmark proper as well as the entire realm/kingdom, although several Greenlanders and Faroese resent this. It is, however, rather understandable given that the Realm comprises 5,4 million Danes, 48,000 Faroese, and 56,000 Greenlanders. An example of the relations of the three nations is the fact that Danish law allocates the Faroe Islands and Greenland two seats each in the Danish Parliament Folketinget. On the other hand, Denmark is not represented in neither the Faroese Lagting nor the Greenlandic Landsting (again, I use the Danish names).

When it comes to internal affairs, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are in effect independent nations, and Danish politicians accept this. What separates them from independent nations are two restrictions: 1) They both receive financial aid from Denmark and 2) They don't run an independent foreign policy. Recent developments indicate that the Faroe Islands and Greenland will be granted greater influence on matters regarding their own affairs, but according to the law, the final say ultimately lies in Copenhagen (in reality, Danish politicians will go to very great lengths to avoid overruling Greenland or the Faroe Islands.) If either the Faroe Islands or Greenland demand to conduct a completely independent foreign policy it will most likely mean the death of the Rigsfællesskab. Several Greenlandic and Faroese politicians have called for independence while expecting the territories to continue receiving substantial financial support from Denmark following independence (some suggesting a transition period of 25 years). This demand is refused by the vast majority of both Danes and Danish politicians. Greenlandic and Faroese politicians generally say that they wish to keep the Queen in case the two nations become independent, but many Danes consider this to be a contradiction in terms (independence = republic; the ultimate Icelandic solution.) It should also be noted that the Constitution of Denmark is not very keen on the King ruling other countries.

2) The independence granted to Iceland in 1918 was not an attempt to create a federation but more resembles the British experiment with "devolution" (in Denmark we'd probably say that the real issue was "trying keep the bits together"). There was never any talk of creating a new assembly like a senate with equal representation for the different nations, since it would mean that the three (or two) North Atlantic nations could outvote Denmark and make Danes pay through the nose. It would also be grossly unfair towards Denmark proper since Danes comprise the vast majority of the population of the Kingdom (pre-war figures including Iceland would be 94% Danes; 2005 figures excluding Iceland would be 98% Danes). Besides, before 1953 Denmark had a two-chamber parliament. The former upper house Landstinget (originally representing the Danish provinces) and the lower house Folketinget elected by proportional vote. This was considered to be a problematic construction and a third federal chamber would have made the situation even worse. --Valentinian 00:04, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Faroe or Faroe Islands?

Because some people love to use the imperialistic and incorrect Faroe Islands instead of the more accurate Faroe or Faroes, two geographical articles have been created for the same country.

I think that it would be apropriate to decide which one is to be used. I prefer Faroe og Faroes, no matter which. This because islands means excatly the same as oe in Faroe.

Also I think that a should be use instead of ae i.e. Faroe and not Faeroe, because it is the one used by faroese. Also this is english. The correct way to spell it would be Færøe, but no one seems to be doing that. And no one would know how to pronounce it anyway.

It seems to me that this issue must be resolved. --JJ-Hammer 19:08, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Jogvanj, the full and official name (in English) is the Faroe Islands. In Faroese the name is Føroyar, where oyar is the part that means islands. I think that it is legitimate to refer to the islands officially as the Faroe Islands, which is their official name in English. Colloquially they are called the Faroes. This isn't uncommon, for example in English the name for Deutschland is Germany. Or the Netherlands (Nederland in Dutch) is often called Holland. Quirks of history, yes, but I think that we ought to use the official English name here in the English Wikipedia.

Actually, Faroe Islands is the official name in English, but however redundant, as explained above, cause oe (from Danish ø - Færø) already means island. For the same reason, we talk about the Orkneys, which have the same norse origin. The plural form Faroes should be the one, used within all the texts (because of better style), while the name of the article(s) have to be Faroe Islands due to the official name, we cannot ignore. The singular form Faroe makes only sense in compositions like Faroemen (while Faroese is the official word for both the people and the language), Faroe boat, Faroe run (ships on Faroe run), Faroe cap (part of the male costume), and so on. This corresponds with the Danish terminology like færøbåd, færøfart, færøhue... or as I use it in German: Färöboot, Färöfahrt, Färömütze.

By the way: If i could invent an English term (now I come centuries too late): Fareys, just because the first name on a map (the Hereford map) was farei (celtic) and we know the Orkneys as well. This would underline the same roots... :-) Arne List 14:40, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

Exactly. One should be careful trying to adapt another language to English on the grounds of political correctness or well-intentioned respect. The name of the Orkney Islands also contains a pleonasm in that the last two letters in the first word, ey, has the same etymological meaning as the last word: Island. So, when an English speaker says "the Orkneys" instead of the full formal name found in maps and official documents, it's because that is the colloquial shortform. Compare "the Rockies" and "the Rocky Mountains" (or possibly even "the Aegean" and "the Aegean Sea"). See also talkpages on the names of East Timor, Côte d'Ivoire and Myanmar for further discussion. --Big Adamsky 13:16, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

If this discussion is still live in any way, you might like to see the recent debate and renaming of the article Orkney Islands. Abtract 20:04, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sheep Islands?

A good old discussion is about the meaning of Faroes. Is it really "sheep islands"? I have my doubts, and don't feel me alone with that. There are linguists saying, it could also mean "far (away) islands". Of course, the Old Norse word fær means "(woolen) lifestock" and the Faroes are full of sheep since the very first days, but as mentioned in the section above, the Hereford map mentioned them as farei an this is celtic for "far away islands". This fits to the islands also very well, cause the are far away, so far away, that they are the last place in Europe, which was detected before finally Iceland. I think, both meanings should be explained and not always and only the popular one, each other copies from each other popular description. ;-) Arne List 14:54, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

I also have doubts about the (Føroyar, meaning "Sheep Islands") ethimology. It's more likely that the name comes from Faerie, which is linked with "far away", of course. Erdelyiek 13:47, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

AFAIK there is also a possibility that the name Faroe Island could come from the Celtic Feharand which means something along 'land mass'. There are other names on the islands, which also have a distinct celtic flavour, i.e. Dímun (twins).

The trouble with Føroyar meaning Sheep Islands is, that in old norse the word for sheep is Sauðr. However the danish word for sheep (Får) has a resemblance to Før (first part of the name). Bearing in mind, that the island have been a part of Denmark for quiet a time, it could be argued, that the danish word for sheep (får), has had a disproportionated effect on the entymology. Bear in mind, that for the first 300 years, the Faroe Island had absolute nothing to do with Denmark, but where a part of Norway, where the word for sheep is Sauðr.

All this dosn't take into account, that the Faroe Islanders have their own language, which perhaps by then (8-900 CE) hadn't evolved into a distinct language. However, it is equally wrong to take a danish word (får) as a good reason for the original meaning of the name, since danish wasn't a part of the island for the first 3-400 years.

Ortind

[edit] Infobox_Country

Føroyar
Image:Faroe Coat of Arms 4.png Flag Coat of arms
Motto: ?
Anthem: Tú alfagra land mítt (My land, oh most beauteous)
Capital (and largest city)		Tórshavn 62°00′N, 06°47′W
Official languages		Faroese
Government		Democratic
-	Monarch Prime Minister	Margrethe II Jóannes Eidesgaard
Independence
-	?	None1
Area
-	Total	1,399 km² (189th) Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "," sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.5
Population
-	2004 estimate	48,228 (211th)
-	? census	?
-	Density	33.1/km² (138th) 85.7/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		1996 estimate
-	Total	$700 million (?)
-	Per capita	$16,000 (?)
Currency		Faroese króna2 (DKK)
Time zone		WET (UTC+0)
-	Summer (DST)	EST (UTC+1)
Internet TLD		.fo
Calling code		+298
1Danish dependency. Self governing since 1948. 2Same value as Danish krone

I was thinking about inserting a Infobox_Country for the Faroe islands, but before it can be done there are a couple of question marks that need to be filled out first. Feel free to edit the infobox, when all the question marks have been replaced it can replace the table on Faroe Islands. ℚuackor 19:52, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Postal History

Could there be an article created on Faroese Postal History? I am a keen stamp collector of the Faroe Islands, and could probably put together an article off the top of my head and with some help from the Postverk Føroya magazine.

I would have no idea where to put it though, so if people approve, where would it go? Sean Wood 16:16, 13 November 2005

[edit] Faroe or Faröe?

What's its name in English? Or both are correct? — Instantnood 19:18, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Faröe is probably incorrect in English. The name is Føroyar in Faroese and Færøerne in Danish, so it wouldn't be logical to introduce the letter "ö" in the English name, for it does not lead to pronouncing the "o" like Danish "ø". It's different in German where the umlauts ä and ö in "Färöer" help achieve a pronunciation similar to "Færøerne". In English, the trema in "ö" does not mark an umlaut, it would rather signify a diaeresis. Keeping the original umlauts in a name like Zürich in English is a different thing. But since the "ö" in "Faröe" is neither the original spelling nor does any good for pronunciation in English, using this spelling would be rather silly in my opinion. Gestumblindi 01:54, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Isn't the -'oe' itself a representation of the 'ö'? Faröe would be one character too many then. It would be like transliterating the eth character ð back from dh as ðh, when the 'h' was there to show it was originally ð, stand-alone, to begin with. Nagelfar 21:03, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Faroe Islands and the cartoon crisis?

Because the Faroe Islands are part of Denmark, I wonder, how was Faroe Islands affected by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy? Were there any specific threats from muslim extremists against, for instance, the Faroese fishing industry? Is faroese cod or wool boycotted by Saudi Arabia for example? Cyrruss 14:45, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Not that i know of. ℚuackor 10:52, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Transportation section needs to be updated

In light of this new advancement: http://www.jp.dk/english_news/artikel:aid=3705010/ I'm not sure what islands and such they are talking about in this section that are currently connected so I can't update this section to mention the new tunnel. Daniel 13:49, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Look at Norðoyatunnilin. ℚuackor 12:31, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Demographics

Could somebody please provide some historical information about the Faroese being of Celtic descent? Enzedbrit 05:36, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

The Dna analysis suggests that (male ) Vikings took slaves or wives from Scotland or Ireland probably by force in most cases. is that a suitable addition to the article? 145.253.108.22 14:31, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External links

Wikipedia is not a link repository or travelguide, so per WP:EL I think it makes sense to first discuss links someone wishes to add to this article. User:212.55.60.242 recently added these:

• Faroenature.net - FaroeNature is primarily intended to help people communicate about the Faroese nature
• The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands - official site of the most important cultural institution in the Faroes Islands
• The Faroe Islands National Art Museum - official site

Do they make sense on the top level Faroes article, if they are suitable then surely it is on a sub-article... The article for the institution in question or the likes of Culture of the Faroe Islands, Geography of the Faroe Islands, etc /wangi 11:56, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Hello, I just finish to publish my Faroe photo gallery (61 photos of this beautiful islands). The link is: http://www.imagea.org/photos/europe/fo/faroe_islands/imagepages/image1.htm I like to say if you think that is possible to add this link to the link section ? I think that this photos give a complete outline (landscapes and animals) of the Faroe islands. But if you not like to add this link i not take offence :) Thank you. Fabrizio gealive

I don't think that there should be links to random pages on the net which have pictures of the subject, but if your images are under a GFDL license or public domain, then the images can be used in articles and credited to you. ℚuackor 18:41, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism?

Is the edits by 86.141.193.186 vandalism or is it fact? The only other edit that was made by that IP address was obvious vandalism. Dark jedi requiem 23:34, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] origin of the islands?

How about something on the geologic origin of the Faroes? They're in a strange position in the middle of the ocean, with no volcanoes (that anyone's mentioned). KarlM 06:27, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I have made a Geology of the Faroe Islands stub article now. ℚuackor 22:57, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Education

Shouldn´t there be a section or an article conserning education in the Faroe Islands ? --Nua2 09:46, 6 September 2006 (UTC) indeed there should

[edit] Irish monks

Very little historical evidence indicates that Irish monks have ever settled in the Faroe Islands. In fact, the only source to the claim was written by Dicuil, and he only mentions some islands to the north. In fact, there is new historical research (by Arne Thorsteinsson) which proves that he never wrote about the Faroes, but instead at some point in time (I can’t remember when at the moment) someone made an error while making a transcript of Dicuil´s writings.--Nua2 10:19, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question to Faroese people

I've read here pretty much about Faroe Islands, and I liked them very much, they sort of look "magical" as a bunch of pictures showed places surrounded by fogs.

However, isnt it a bit boring to live there? Or do you enjoy the quieter life? I'd certainly like to visit the islands one day but I can't imagine a person like me living there.

Cheers

The Faroe Islands are almost exactly like everywhere else. When a German traveller who visited the Faroe Islands in 1913 noticed some modern changes on the islands he wrote: "Und so wird diser typhische Menchenschlag dem Anthropologen ebenso uinteressand werden wie wir ubrigen Europaer".

Down South, in Denmark, there are plenty of jokes indicating that the Faroe Islands are an extremely boring place to live in, however, I always fail to see the point. I hope that answers your question.Nua2 21:54, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

It does! The day I buy a sail boat, the first place to visit will be the islands. Congratulations for such a lovely place, and thank you very much for such a kind answer Mr. Nua2.

[edit] Can someone change the spelling of "defence" in the first paragraph to "defense?"

Can someone change the spelling of "defence" in the first paragraph to "defense?"

-- What on earth for? Have you read the guidelines on US/UK spelling. This is an article about a European country, and whoever started it used UK spellings. It should not be changed without good reason. Rat 01:44, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mis-translation?

The following sentence in the demographics section In the 20th Century Faroese became the host language; Danish only has the character of a traffic language. makes no sense in English. Can anyone improve it or explain it here?--JBellis 22:29, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

It probably means Faroese is now the primary language spoken in homes, but Danish is used to communicate internationally, with outsiders, and via trade, imports/exports, the internet, etc. Just like 'English' is the international language in most the rest of the world. Nagelfar 21:07, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Faroese has always been the primary language spoken in homes.--Nua2 16:15, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Minor edits

Just did a couple of minor edits, most of the English here is top-class but there are a few bits that could be rephrased, have done my best. Ghostreveries 17:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Faroe Islands" or "The Faroe Islands"?

I dont know Faroese, but in Danish: Fær-ø-er-ne, ne=The Fær=Faroe ø=island er=s --Arigato1 11:33, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

The title uses the English name therefore it follows the same convention as many place names or countries which take the definite artcile but it isn't used in the title e.g. the US, the UK, the USSR, the Seychelles etc.

The is some debate on the Netherlands talk page but see Wikipedia:Naming conventions#Avoid the definite article ("the") and the indefinite article ("a"/"an") at the beginning of the page name for clarification . --JBellis 11:51, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is wise to suppress the definite article -- and the indefinite -- a much more controversial point -- in titles wherever possible.

New York City is officially The City of New York, and my employer The City University of New York.

There will be a cold wind blowing across the River Styx before they get me to write The City University.

Your analysis of is good -- I do read Danish, speak Swedish fluently and Norwegian not so fluently -- save that Fær = Far (it should be Faer but isn't.)

The oe is a convention among Scandinavians for typing ø on a keyboard that only has the letters a through z (and ae for æ; aa is å.)

None of which amounts to a difference that anybody there would worry about (life's short; let's have another beer!)

And let us hope that somebody doesn't insist upon Faroe Islands, The as the title for this article.

Getting back to the indefinite article, I've never accepted the rationale for alphabetizing A Bridge Too Far under A but The Bridge over the River Kwai under B as is almost universally the case.

[edit] Native Military?

I read in the article: (they have a small organized native military in Mjørkadalur, including a small police force and coast guard). This cannot be true, for the Faroese have NO military. The Mjørkadalur base is Danish on behalf the NATO. The Faroese were never asked about that. The police is Danish too (though locals serving in it, ofcourse), and the coast guard is both Danish (navy) and Faroese (fishery control). Anyone out there, who would correct me? -- Arne List 23:16, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Location maps available for infoboxes of European countries

[edit] Faroese government

I can not seem to finde anything about the faroese government (landstýrið). Is this just because the article has'nt been created yet, or is there something i have missed. ℚuackor 10:04, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

Can anyone clarify why these references are under references ? ℚuackor 15:46, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

• Irvine, D.E.G. 1982. Seaweeds of the Faroes 1: The flora. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Bot.) 10: 109 - 131.
• Tittley, I., Farnham, W.F. and Gray, P.W.G. 1982. Seaweeds of the Faroes 2: Sheltered fjords and sounds. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Bot.) 10: 133 - 151.
• Irvine, David Edward Guthrie. 1982. Seaweed of the Faroes 1: The flora. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Bot.) 10(3): 109 - 131.

[edit] Norway and World War II

Some years ago a Faroese reader, who seemed very pro-Norwegian, got a letter printed in the Norwegian history magazine Levende Historie. He wrote that during the war the Norwegian government (Trygve Lie IIRC) had approached the British government about transferring the Faroes to Norwegian sovereignty as compensation for the lack of a Danish war effort. Does anyone know if this actually happened, or if it's just an urban legend? -- Nidator 23:25, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

I've rechecked Dansk Udenrigspolitiks Historie Vol IV "Overleveren 1914-1945", and it mentions such an attempt by Trygve Lie. Given the content, it must have happened in 1940. The relevant paragraph reads as follows (quote, loose translation): "Pressure on the "ownerless" Danish colony [Greenland] intensified, including from Norwegian side, as the foreign minister in the exiled [Norwegian] government, Trygve Lie, worked actively from London to gather support for a plan that Norway should lead an initiative for a grand-scale strategic cooperation in the Atlantic, which - apart from Norway - would also include the U.K., Canada and the U.S. - plus Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes. The idea was to entrench Norway in an Atlantic alliance, and it was part of the plan that Norway should create close bonds to Denmark's North Atlantic possessions, among other things by taking over the Faroes and possibly also Greenland. However, this project got a somewhat rough reception in Washington where it had still not been entirely forgotten that the United States had recognized Danish sovereignty [over Greenland] as part of the sales agreement concerning the Danish West Indies. The American Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, wrote a bluntly phrased letter to Trygve Lie informing the latter that the U.S. government "would not tolerate any political, military or naval steps resulting in a lasting occupation of Greenland or a change in the status of this country." [Den amerikanske udenrigsminister, Cordell Hull gjorde i et kontant formuleret brev Trygve Lie klart, at den amerikanske regering "ikke agtede at finde sig i noget politisk, militært eller flådemæssigt skridt, som resulterede i en vedvarende besættelse af Grønland eller i en ændring af landets status."] The Hands Off policy remained in force. If anybody were to establish a precence in Greenland, it was to be the United States itself. (unquote). (Bo Lidegaard: "Dansk Undenrigspolitiks Historie", vol. IV, p. 454). Valentinian ^{T / C} 22:04, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

As usual your post is very interesting. It is also good to get the story verified. This is subject matter that could, and maybe should, be included in the History of the Faroe Islands, History of Greenland and Trygve Lie articles. The Dansk Udenrigspolitiks Historie book series seems very rich in information. -- Nidator 18:11, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

They are, and I can warmly recommend them. The series is published by Gyldendal and I think the initiative is somehow connected to the publishing of Den Store Danske Encyklopædi. The series is the first attempt to write a comprehensive history of the foreign policy of the Danish state from "time immemorial" till today. There is a little more information on Gyldendal's webpage here. I've so far only read vol.s 3 and 4 and both were very good reads. See e.g. a little more information about vol. 4 here. I believe Bo Lidegaard does a good job describing a very problematic part of Danish history. Wasn't a similar series of books about your country's foreign policy published in Norway a few years earlier? Valentinian ^{T / C} 18:42, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed there was ([1]). -- Nidator 19:05, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Interesting. Thanks for the tip. And yes, it would probably be relevant to include material like this. Valentinian ^{T / C} 19:20, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I haven't bought them yet myself though, as I'm afraid my book budget is strained enough as it is. I will see if I can get the information worked into the relevant articles. -- Nidator 18:36, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Human Development Index

In the infobox, the HDI is mentioned, and the Faroes ranked on place 15. But this refers to Denmark and not the Faroes! -- Arne List 13:41, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Union with Scotland?

Any movement or sentiment for the idea that the faroes should become a United Kingdom territory? They are only 149 miles from the UK, there nearest neighbor and i'm sure they share much in common with them. It makes sense that the faroes become a UK territory! I also want to know are they part of the British Isles or not?

I think that is extremely unlikely. The Faroese are (predominately at least) a Scandinavian people speaking a (West) Scandinavian language. If they are to move away from Denmark then it will be for independence, not for another union. In the unlikely event that they wanted to enter another union then both Iceland and Norway would be much more natural candidates than the United Kingdom, due to historical, cultural and linguistic (Icelandic and Modern Norwegian/High Norwegian being the closest relatives) ties. If anything it is Orkney and Shetland that are marking their ties with Norway/Scandinavia (see the new Orkney flag). That said, I don't think they are going to leave the UK either, at least as long as Scotland doesn't. I would find it very unnatural to refer to the Faroes as a part of the British Isles. In fact, I think it is enough of a stretch referring to Shetland as a part of the British Isle. These definitions are seldom agreed upon and absolute though. -- Nidator 14:02, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• Has a Faroese/Icelandic merger or union ever been proposed? Funkynusayri 22:12, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that has ever been seriously proposed. As Nidator said above, any change of status for the Faroes would most likely be a move towards independence. However, it should be noted that the limited foreign relations that the Faroes carry out in their own capacity have largely involved Iceland. The nations have exchanged consuls and signed an extensive free trade agreement (see: Hoyvík Agreement). --Bjarki 23:03, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

I know that the Faroes has shown interest in joining EFTA, which would bring them closer to Norway and Iceland. This would require some sort of change in the relationship with the EU member state Denmark and/or the EFTA Convention though.[2][3][4] This could perhaps be added to the article. -- Nidator ^{T / C} 07:26, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Agrarian society

The Faroe Islands are not an agrerian society. There is no agrerian economy in the faroes. Nua2 (talk) 13:56, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Brendan

It´s most likely just a story that st. Brendan ever visited the Faroes. A lot of the historical information is very dubious.Nua2 (talk) 18:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)