Portal:Faroe Islands

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Vælkomin! The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar, Danish: Færøerne) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland. The total area is approximately 1,400 km² (540 sq mi) with a 2010 population of almost 50,000. The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing dependency of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. Over the years, the Faroese have been granted control of some matters. Areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, police, justice, currency and international relations. The Faroe Islands were politically associated with Norway until 1380, when Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden, which gradually evolved into Danish control of the islands. This association ceased in 1814 when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden, while Denmark retained control of Norwegian colonies including the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. The Faroe Islands have two representatives on the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation. Template:/box-footer The Faroes is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Faroe Islands. One of the Northern European short-tailed sheep, it is a small, very hardy breed. Faroes ewes weigh around at maturity, and rams are . Rams are horned and ewes are usually polled, and the breed occurs naturally in many different colors. Faroes tend to have very little flocking instinct, and will range freely in small groups in pastureland. They are most closely related to the Old Norwegian and Icelandic breeds. First introduced in the 9th century, Faroes sheep have long been an integral part of the island traditions. The name Faeroe itself is thought to mean "sheep islands", and the animal is depicted on the Faroe Islands' historic coat of arms. Lamb and mutton dishes made from Faroes sheep, such as skerpikjøt, are a large part of traditional island cuisine. The breed is primarily kept for meat production, but wool is used for traditional knitwear like the Faroese shawl. Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb (March 25, 1819 – April 4, 1909) was a Faroese Lutheran minister who established the modern orthography of Faroese, the language of the Faroe Islands, based on the Icelandic language, which like Faroese derives from Old Norse. Hammershaimb created his spelling system for Faroese in 1846. It was etymological, with the vowels based on written Icelandic, rather than phonetically descriptive (as in for example Welsh.) For instance, the letter Eth (Ð) has no phonemes attached to it. In this Hammershaimb had accepted the advice of the Icelandic independence leader Jón Sigurðsson, who had seen the manuscript for his "Bemerkninger med Hensyn til den Færøiske Udtale" (Notes with Respect to Faroese Pronunciation); Hammershaimb considered that despite its artificiality, this was the only approach that would overcome the problems of differing dialects in the islands. Expand stubs: Geography stubs · People stubs · Sports clubs stubs · Faroese stubs in general There are a lot of Faroe Islands-related stubs that can be turned into real articles! Categorize: Help us categorize Faroe Islands-related articles WikiProjects: Have a look at WikiProject Faroe Islands, WikiProject Denmark, WikiProject Greenland and WikiProject Norse history and culture Noticeboard: Have a look at the Faroese Wikipedians' notice board Template:/box-footer Denmark Greenland Norway Sweden Iceland Europe European Union Germanic culture What are portals? List of portals Featured portals Tjaldur (Haematopus ostralegus), the National bird of the Faroe Islands. They leave in September to Britain and return on 12 March - a National holiday. A Tjaldur is pictured here flying on the island of Nólsoy. ...that the Løgting is the oldest parliament in Europe? ...that Faroese is closely related to Icelandic and the languages are to some degree mutually intelligible? ...that the Faroe Islands is an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark, but unlike Denmark not part of the EU? ...that Christianity was introduced to the Faroe Islands in 999 by decree of king Olaf of Norway? ▼ Faroe Islands ► Buildings and structures in the Faroe Islands ► Communications in the Faroe Islands ► Economy of the Faroe Islands ► Environment of the Faroe Islands ► Geography of the Faroe Islands ► Government of the Faroe Islands ► Faroe Islands-related lists ► Faroese people ► Politics of the Faroe Islands ► Faroese society ► Transport in the Faroe Islands There is a Faroese version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: