The terrain of the Faroe Islands is rugged, dominated by fjords and cliffs with sparse vegetation and few trees. Despite their proximity to the Arctic Circle, the islands experience a subpolar oceanic climate with mild temperatures year-round, moderated by the Gulf Stream. Summer nights feature perpetual civil twilight; winter days are very short. The main islands are connected by bridges and tunnels, and the islands are served by Vágar Airport, the only civil airport in the archipelago, with international flights operated by Atlantic Airways and Scandinavian Airlines.
Initial Norse settlement is dated to the early 9th century. The islands came under Norwegian rule in the early 11th century following the introduction of Christianity by Sigmundur Brestisson. They followed Norway into the Kalmar Union in 1397 and came under Danish rule after the union's dissolution in 1523. Following the introduction of Lutheranism 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 the Treaty of Kiel.
During the Second World War, British forces occupied the islands but refrained from governing Faroese internal affairs. Inspired by that period of self-government and by Iceland's declaration of independence in 1944, the Faroe Islands held a referendum in 1946 that produced a narrow majority for independence; the results were annulled by King Christian X. Subsequent negotiations led to home rule being granted in 1948. Today the islands control most areas apart from military defence, policing, justice, and currency, with partial control over foreign affairs.
The Faroe Islands are not part of the European Union. They did not join the European Economic Community in 1973, retaining autonomy over their own fishing waters. They maintain an independent trade policy and have concluded their own trade agreements with other states, including an extensive bilateral free trade agreement with Iceland known as the Hoyvík Agreement.
The fishing industry accounts for around 90 percent of the islands' exports. Tourism has become increasingly prominent since the 2010s. The islands experienced a deep economic crisis in the early 1990s accompanied by heavy emigration, but this trend subsequently reversed.
The Faroese people are active in a wide range of sports, including football, handball, volleyball, swimming, outdoor rowing (Faroese kappróður), cycling, triathlon, and athletics. The islands have competed in every biennial Island Games since those events were established in 1985, hosted the games in 1989, and won them outright in 2009.
Football is by far the most popular sport on the islands, with approximately 7,000 registered players from a total population of around 52,000. Ten teams contest the Faroe Islands Premier League. The Faroe Islands are full members of both UEFA and FIFA and compete in qualifying campaigns for the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup. The national team won its first ever competitive fixture by defeating Austria 1–0 in UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying. The nation's most celebrated football result came in 2014, when the Faroe Islands defeated Greece 1–0 in a result described as the biggest shock in football history, given a 169-place gap between the two sides in the FIFA World Rankings at the time. The team subsequently defeated Greece again on 13 June 2015 by 2–1. In the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C, the Faroe Islands defeated Turkey 2–1.
The Faroe Islands men's national handball team won the first two editions of the IHF Emerging Nations Championship, in 2015 and 2017, and qualified for the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship in Germany.
The Faroe Islands are a full member of FINA and compete under their own flag at World Championships and European Championships in swimming. Swimmer Pál Joensen, born in 1990, won a bronze medal at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) and four silver medals at the European Championships between 2010 and 2014. The Faroe Islands also compete in the Paralympics and have won 1 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze medals since the 1984 Summer Paralympics.
Two Faroese athletes have competed at the Olympic Games, but under the Danish flag, as the Faroe Islands are not members of the International Olympic Committee. Those two athletes are swimmer Pál Joensen, who competed in 2012, and rower Katrin Olsen, who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the lightweight double sculls alongside Juliane Rasmussen. The Faroe Islands applied to the IOC for full membership in 1984 and continued to pursue membership as of 2017.
Faroese is an insular North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, partially mutually intelligible with Icelandic. Following centuries during which the language was suppressed and used only orally, a standardised Faroese orthography was re-established in the 19th century. The Faroese language conflict in the first half of the 20th century saw Danish progressively displaced by Faroese as the language of the church, public education, and law. A rich oral tradition of folk tales and Faroese folk songs (kvæði) accompanied the medieval Faroese chain dance and was eventually written down and preserved.
In international organisations, the Faroe Islands are represented as part of the Danish delegation to the Nordic Council and the Council of Europe, and hold associate membership in the Nordic Council. They are full members of UEFA, FIFA, FINA, and the European Handball Federation. They have their own telephone country code (+298), internet country code top-level domain (.fo), and postal code system.
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