10 Years ago I stumbled across photos of very interesting looking islands. On further investigation I found that these were the Faroe Islands and that they lie north, north west of the UK approximately 300km from the top end of Scotland and between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea. We posted about the Faroe Islands back then and the story was very popular, So popular that we have decided to reprise the post with some new and larger images and hope that a new audience may like these images and the story. All of the photos are by Olavur Frederiksen and we are extremely thankful for Olavur’s permission to use these photos. I highly recommend that you visit his website links at the end of this story to see more of his work. TO SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS HERE, SCROLL THIS POST..

Klaksvik, second largest town in the Faroes and located on island of Bordoy



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Gáshólmur and Tindhólmur



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

More Information on the Faroe Islands

History of The Faroe Islands

Not much is known of the earliest history of the islands, Irish hermits (monks) settled on the islands in the sixth century, bringing with them sheep and oats as well as early Irish language.

Around 650 AD the Vikings replaced the Irish, bringing with them the Old Norse language, which has evolved into the currently spoken (Faroese) language which is spoken today. These viking settlers came from Norwegian settlements in Shetland, Orkney and islands in the Irish Sea.

Norwegian control of the Islands continued until 1380, when Norway entered into the Kalmar Union with Denmark and control gradually transferred to Denmark. When this union between Norway and Denmark was dissolved as a result of the Kiel Treaty in 1814, Denmark retained control of the Faroe Islands.

During World War 2 the British army occupied the islands so as to strengthen control of the North Atlantic, however after the war control reverted back to Denmark and a home-rule regime was implemented granting a high degree of local autonomy.

So where in the world are The Faroe Islands



Image: Google Earth

18 main islands make up the Faroes



Image: Wikipedia

Economy

“The Faroes declined to join Denmark in entering the European Community (now European Union) in 1973. The islands experienced considerable economic difficulties following the collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s, but have since made efforts to diversify the economy. Support for independence has grown and is the objective of the government.”

The Faroe Islands’ Unemployment levels have come back in the last few years, with unemployment down to 5% in mid-1998. By June 2008 unemployment had declined to 1.1%, before rising to 3.2% in December 2014, although this is still among the lowest in Europe. Nevertheless, the almost total dependence on fishing means that the economy remains extremely vulnerable. The current fishing catch landed in the Faroe Islands are either exported fresh or processed into fresh fillets, frozen fillets or wet salted fish. Other species are processed into fish meal and oil, or feed for the fish farms. The primary export markets are Denmark (shrimp), Great Britain (Cod and haddock), Germany, France (coly, redfish, black halibut), the Mediterranean countries (salted fish), USA (frozen cod and haddock) and Japan (shrimps, trout).

Petroleum reserves

In 2014 the United Nations Commission recognized the claimed entitlement of the Faroe Islands to local oil reserves, which means that the Faroes will be allocated at least 27,000 km² of the shelf north of the Faroe Islands, of which the Faroes will have the sovereign right to exploration of resources both on the seabed and the underground.

Source: faroeislands.fo

Information Technology

Since 2000, new information technology and business projects have also been fostered in the Faroe Islands to attract new investment.



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Climate

As discussed above the Faroe Islands are approx 350 km north north west of the top end of Scotland, making them not far from the southern end of the Arctic Circle. Considering their high latitude the islands are not as cold as you might expect, with average temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius in winter and 11 degrees Celsius in summer. That said the Islands are covered in much snow during the colder months, as can be seen in the above photos, This snow then forms a melt and plenty of water for the growth of the plentiful green grass all over the islands, which can be seen in many of the other photos.

Litla-Dimun, the only uninhabited island of the Faroe Islands



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Geography

The Faroe Islands consist of eighteen separate islands. The whole area of the Islands is approximately 1399 square km (540 sq Mles). There is 1117 kilometes (694 mi) of coastline. There are no land boundaries with any other country. The only island that is uninhabited is Lítla Dímun.

“The Islands are rugged and are dominated by tholeiitic basalt lava which was part of the great Thulean Plateau during the Paleogene period.”

Gásadalur, located on the west-side of Vágar Island





Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Mykines Lighthouse



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Transportation

“Vágar Airport has scheduled service to destinations from Vágoy Island. The largest Faroese airline is Atlantic Airways.Due to the rocky terrain and relatively small size of the Faroe Islands, its transportation system was not as extensive as other places of the world. This situation has changed, and today the infrastructure has been developed extensively. Some 80% of the population in the islands is connected by under-ocean tunnels, bridges, and causeways which bind the three largest islands and three other large islands to the northeast together.”



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Torshavn Harbour



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/

Aurora over Tórshavn



Photo: Olavur Frederiksen @ https://www.facebook.com/faroephoto/