Visitor Focus: Faroe Islands (December 2006)
The Peculiar Press website had no new countries represented by visitors in December, but there were return visits from several unusual locales, including both Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the subject of this month's visitor focus. The Faroe Islands (Føroyar in the local Foroese language, which is derived from Old Norse) an island groups located about halfway between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic. Most residents of this self-ruled Danish dependency descended from Viking settlers who arrived in the ninth century.
|
|
The archipelago of eighteen volcanic islands (one - Lítla Dímun - uninhabited) comprises 540 square miles (about eight times the size of Washington, DC), but only about two percent of the land is arable, and the population of 47,600 is limited to small coastal lowlands mostly along the eastern shores. Of the 111 settlements in the Faroe Islands, only nine exceed one thousand residents and seventy-four have less than 200. The largest town is the capital, Tórshavn (12620) on the island of Streymoy. The smallest is Stóra Dímun (2), where the Pattursson family hopes to promote tourism. The only other towns with populations over two thousand are Hoyvik (2,655), a Tórshavn "suburb," and Klaksvik (4,645) on the island of Bordoy.
|
Despite its far northern latitute, the Faroe Islands boast a relatively mild climate because of the influence of the Gulf Stream. Winters are mild and summers cool with considerable overcast, fog and wind. The southernmost town is Sumba (population 281) on the island of Suduroy. From 1040 until 1350, when it was wiped out back the Black Death, a Frisian colony in Akraberg, south of Sumba. The northernmost town is Vidareidi on the island of Vidoy. Vidareidi and the surrounding area are said to be some of the most beautiful scenary in the Faroe Islands.
Faroese are attempting to promote increased tourism, primarily based on the Islands' appeal to naturalist, particularly bird-watchers. The precipitous cliffs of the islands' western shores are home ot thousands of summer birds. Ornithologists have identified some three hundred species of birds in the Faroes, drawn by the rich food sources. Guillermot, kittiwake, puffins, and gannet are among the birds of the Faroes. Also of interest to visitor may be the rich Viking history of the Islands, still architecturally evident in the many grass-roofed homes and farms.Tour packages to the Faroe Islands are reasonably priced if you can get to Reykjavik. An eight-day tour of Vágar Island and Tórshavn will run you $4,156 per couple.
|
Until at least the 1960's commerce between Faroe Island settlements was mostly by boat or ferry, but the Islands are now served by a well-maintained road system. The two largest islands - Streymoy ad Eysturoy are connected by the "Bridge across the Atlantic." The island of Vágar, where the country's main airport is located, is connected to Streymoy by a 4.2-kilometer tunnel. A second, longer tunnel between Eysturoy and Bordoy was opened in 2006 at a cost of €48 million, a source of considerable contraversy in Denmark, which is footing the bill for these transportation improvements for the 47,000 Faroese. A proposed twelve-kilometer tunnel between Streymoy and Sandoy, estimated to cost about €70 million, has only served to heighten the problem, and some Danish legislators have called for the Faroese to repay the €1.1 billion cost to date of the bridge-tunnel network (about €23,400 per Faroese). The development of roads, bridges, and tunnels has apparently created a love affair between Faroese and cars. According to 2003 statistics, there were 24,000 registered vehicles for 17,000 households. Faroese are therefore among the highest per capita oil consumers in the world - .096 barrels per day per person vs. .067 for the United States.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II serves as the Faroe Islands' chief of state. She is represented by High Commissioner Birgit Kleis in the Faroes. Current Prime Minister Joannes Eidesgaard is the head of government, and the Faroese unicameral Parliament (Logting) consists of thirty-two four-year seats elected by popular vote on a proportional basis from the seven constituent regions. The country is politically eclectic, divided almost evenly between four major parties. In the most region election (February 2005) eight representatives were elected from the Republican Party, seven each from the Social Democrat, Union, and People's Parties, two from the Center Party, and one from the Independence Party.
The median age of Faroese is 35 years (USA, 36.5) and the life expectancy 79.35 years (USA 77.85). The Evangelical Lutheran state religion is practiced by over eighty percent of the population, but ten percent are Christian Brethren. The literacy rate is 100%. The per capita gross domestic product of the Faroe Island (2001 data) is $22,000 (USA, $41,800). The Faroese economy is almost totally dependent on fishing, but recent nearby oil finds raise hope for a more diversified economy in the future. Currently there is virtually no unemployment. Fish exports go primarily to Denmark (38%), the UK (30%), Nigeria (9%), Norway (6%), and the Netherlands (4%). Imports, consisting primarily of consumer goods and raw materials, come from Denmark (46%), Norway (18%), Germany (8%), Spain (8%) and Iceland (5%).
Media outlets in the Faroe Islands consist of three television stations (with forty-three repeaters) and four teen radio stations (one AM, 13 FM). The country's internet code is .fo, and in 2006, there were an estimated 6,915 internet hosts and 33,000 users.
Welcome
Faroese!
Explore
tourism in the Faroe Islands
Source: CIA World Factbook at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/