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The Faroe Islands are an archipelago between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland, 320 kilometres (200 mi) north-northwest ofGreat Britain. The area is approximately 1,400 km2 (540 sq mi) with a 2015 population of 48,700. The islands are an autonomous country within the Danish kingdom. Visit Faroe Islands

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Between 1035 and 1814, the Faroe Islands were part of the Kingdom of Norway.

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The 1814 Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the islands, along with two other Norwegian regions: Greenland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Danish Realm since 1948. The Faroese have control of most domestic matters; areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence,police, justice, currency and foreign affairs. The Faroe Islands have representation in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation.
In Danish, the name Færøerne may reflect an Old Norse word fær(sheep). The morpheme øerne represents a plural (with definite article) ofø (island) in Danish. The Danish name thus translates as "the islands of sheep".
In Faroese, the name appears as Føroyar. Oyar represents the plural ofoy, older Faroese for "island", the modern Faroese word for island isoyggj.
In English, the name is sometimes spelled "Faeroe".
A collection of Faroese marine algae resulting from 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.
The natural vegetation of 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.
Faroe is characterised by the lack of trees, resembling Connemara and Dingle in Republic of Ireland.
A few small plantations consisting of plants collected from similar climates such asTierra del Fuego in South America and Alaska thrive on the islands.
The bird fauna of the Faroe Islands is dominated by seabirds and birds attracted to open land like heather, probably because of the lack of woodland and other suitable habitats. Many species have developed special Faroese sub-species: common eider, European starling, winter wren, common guillemot, and black guillemot. Thepied raven was endemic to the Faroe Islands, but has now become extinct.
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 once was a local domestic sheep breed calledFaroes (depicted on the coat of arms), a variety of feral sheep survived on Little Dímun until the mid-19th century.
Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are common around the shorelines.Several species of cetacean live in the waters around the Faroe Islands. Best known are the long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melaena), which are still hunted by the islanders in accordance with longstanding local tradition. Killer whales (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 breed include Faroe pony, Faroe cow, Faroese sheep, Faroese Goose and Faroese duck.
Faroese is spoken in the entire area as a first language. It is difficult to say exactly how many people worldwide speak the Faroese language, because many ethnic Faroese live in Denmark, and few who are born there return to the Faroes with their parents or as adults.
The Faroese language is one of the smallest of the Germanic languages. Written Faroese (grammar and vocabulary) is most similar to Icelandic and to their ancestor Old Norse, though the spoken language is closer to Norwegian dialects of the west coast of Norway. Although Faroese is the main language on the islands, both Faroese and Danish are official languages, and Danish is universally spoken.
Faroese language policy provides for the active creation of new terms in Faroese suitable for modern life.
The culture of the Faroe Islands has its roots in the Nordic culture. The Faroe Islands were long isolated from the main cultural phases and movements that swept across parts of Europe. This means that they have maintained a great part of their traditional culture. The language spoken is Faroese and it is one of three insular Scandinavian languages descended from the Old Norse language spoken in Scandinavia in the Viking Age, the others being Icelandic and the extinct Norn, which is thought to have been mutually intelligible with Faroese. Until the 15th century, Faroese had a similar orthography to Icelandic and Norwegian, but after the Reformation in 1538, the ruling Norwegians outlawed its use in schools, churches and official documents.

Although a rich spoken tradition survived, for 300 years the language was not written down. This means that all poems and stories were handed down orally. These works were split into the following divisions: sagnir (historical), ævintýr (stories) and kvæði (ballads), often set to music and the mediaeval chain dance. These were eventually written down in the 19th century.
Traditional Faroese food is mainly based on meat, seafood and potatoes and uses few fresh vegetables. Mutton is the basis of many meals, and one of the most popular treats is skerpikjøt, well aged, wind-dried mutton, which is quite chewy. The drying shed, known as a hjallur, is a standard feature in many Faroese homes, particularly in the small towns and villages. Other traditional foods are ræst kjøt (semi-dried mutton) and ræstur fiskur, matured fish. Another Faroese specialty is Grind og spik, pilot whale meat, and blubber.

(A parallel meat/fat dish made with offal is garnatálg.) Meat and blubber from a pilot whale means food for a long time. Fresh fish also features strongly in the traditional local diet, as do seabirds, such asFaroese puffins, and their eggs. Dried fish is also commonly eaten.
There are two breweries in the Faroe Islands. The first brewery is called Föroya Bjór and has produced beer since 1888 with exports mainly to Iceland and Denmark. The second brewery is called Okkara and was founded in 2010. A local specialty isfredrikk, a special brew made in Nólsoy. Production of hard alcohol such as snaps is forbidden in the Faroe Islands, hence the Faroese aqua vit, Aqua Vita, is produced abroad.
Since the friendly British occupation, the Faroese have been fond of British food, in particular fish and chips and British-style chocolate such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, which is found in many of the island's shops, whereas in Denmark this is scarce.
There are records of drive hunts in the islands dating from 1584. It is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the International Whaling Commission as there are disagreements about the Commission's legal authority to regulate cetacean hunts. Hundreds of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melaena) could be killed in a year, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called "grindadráp" in Faroese, are non-commercial and are organized on a community level; anyone can participate.

When a whale pod by chance is spotted near land the participating hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats and then slowly and quietly begin to drive the whales towards the chosen authorised bay. When a pod of whales has been stranded the killing is begun. Faroese animal welfare legislation, which also applies to whaling, requires that animals are killed as quickly and with as little suffering as possible. A regulation spinal lance is used to sever the spinal cord, which also severs the major blood supply to the brain, ensuring both loss of consciousness and death within seconds. Visit Faroe Islands

The spinal lance has been introduced as preferred standard equipment for killing pilot whales and has been shown to reduce killing time to 1–2 seconds. In recent years, two new items of equipment have been developed, formally approved and required as standard equipment. The latter being a blowhole hook used to secure the whales when stranded. Rope and manpower is used to drag the whales ashore. Visit Faroe Islands
This "grindadráp" is legal and provides food for many people in the Faroe Islands. However, a study has found whale meat and blubber to currently be contaminated and not recommended for human consumption, as too much may cause such adverse health effects as birth defects of the nervous system, high blood pressure, damaged immune system, increased risk for developing Parkinson's Disease, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, and Type II Diabetes:
"Therefore we recommend that adults eat no more than one to two meals a month. Women who plan to become pregnant within three months, pregnant women, and nursing women should abstain from eating pilot whale meat. Pilot whale liver and kidneys should not be eaten at all." Visit Faroe Islands
Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history. Animal-rights groups, such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, criticize it as being cruel and unnecessary, since it in their point of view is no longer necessary as a food source for the Faroese people, while the hunters claim in return that most journalists do not exhibit sufficient knowledge of the catch methods or its economic significance. Visit Faroe Islands
The sustainability of the Faroese pilot whale hunt has been discussed, but with a long-term average catch of around 800 pilot whales on the Faroe Islands a year the hunt is not considered to have a significant impact on the pilot whale population. There are an estimated 128,000 pilot whales in the Northeast Atlantic, and Faroese whaling is therefore widely recognized as a sustainable catch. Visit Faroe Islands

Annual records of whale drives and strandings of pilot whales and other small cetaceans in the Faroes date back to 1584 and provide over 400 years of documentation, including statistics, and represents one of the most comprehensive historical records of wildlife utilization anywhere in the world Ólavsøka, is on 29 July, and commemorates the death of Saint Olaf. The celebrations are held in Tórshavn, starting on the evening of the 28th and continuing until the 31st. The 28 July is half working day for the members of some of the labour unions while Ólavsøkudagur (The Saint Olaf's Day) of 29 July is full holiday for most of the members of most of the unions, but not all of them. Visit Faroe Islands
The official celebration starts on the 29th, with the opening of the Faroese Parliament, a custom that dates back 900 years. This begins with a service held in Tórshavn Cathedral; all members of parliament as well as civil and church officials walk to the cathedral in a procession. All of the parish ministers take turns giving the sermon. After the service, the procession returns to the parliament for the opening ceremony. Visit Faroe Islands
Other celebrations are marked by different kinds of sports competitions, the rowing competition (in Tórshavn Harbour) being the most popular, art exhibitions, pop concerts, and the famous Faroese dance in Sjónleikarhúsið and on Vaglið outdoor after the midnight singing on 29 July (30 July when after midnight). The celebrations have many facets, and only a few are mentioned here. Visit Faroe Islands

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