|
| World Fact Book
| Mark H. Solsman
| Documentation Training and Publications, Center for Academic Computing
| mhs108@psu.edu  10/19/93
I
 
_@_Faroe Islands Geography
 
Total area:
    1,400 km2
Land area:
    1,400 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly less than eight times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
    none
Coastline:
    764 km
Maritime claims:
  Exclusive fishing zone:
    200 nm
  Territorial sea:
    3 nm
Disputes:
    none
Climate:
    mild winters, cool summers; usually overcast; foggy, windy
Terrain:
    rugged, rocky, some low peaks; cliffs along most of coast
Natural resources:
    fish
Land use:
    arable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and
    woodland 0%; other 98%
Environment:
    precipitous terrain limits habitation to small coastal lowlands; archipelago
    of 18 inhabited islands and a few uninhabited islets
Note:
    strategically located along important sea lanes in northeastern Atlantic
    about midway between Iceland and Shetland Islands
 
:Faroe Islands People
 
Population:
    48,588 (July 1992), growth rate 0.9% (1992)
Birth rate:
    17 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    8 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    75 years male, 81 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    2.2 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Faroese (singular and plural); adjective - Faroese
Ethnic divisions:
    homogeneous Scandinavian population
Religions:
    Evangelical Lutheran
Languages:
    Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish
Literacy:
    NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
Labor force:
    17,585; largely engaged in fishing, manufacturing, transportation, and
    commerce
Organized labor:
    NA
 
:Faroe Islands Government
 
Long-form name:
    none
Type:
    part of the Danish realm; self-governing overseas administrative division of
    Denmark
Capital:
    Torshavn
Administrative divisions:
    none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark)
Independence:
    part of the Danish realm; self-governing overseas administrative division of
    Denmark
Constitution:
    Danish
Legal system:
    Danish
National holiday:
    Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Executive branch:
    Danish monarch, high commissioner, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
    Cabinet (Landsstyri)
Legislative branch:
    unicameral Parliament (Lgting)
Judicial branch:
    none
Leaders:
  Chief of State:
    Queen MARGRETHE II (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner
    Bent KLINTE (since NA)
  Head of Government:
    Prime Minister Atli P. DAM (since 15 January 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
  opposition:
    Cooperation Coalition Party, Pauli ELLEFSEN; Republican Party, Signer
    HANSEN; Progressive and Fishing Industry Party-Christian People's Party
    (PFIP-CPP), leader NA; Progress Party, leader NA; Home Rule Party, Hilmar
    KASS
  two-party ruling coalition:
    Social Democratic Party, Atli P. DAM; People's Party, Jogvan SUND- STEIN
Suffrage:
    universal at age 20
Elections:
  Danish Parliament:
    last held on 12 December 1990 (next to be held by December 1994); results -
    percent of vote by party NA; seats - (2 total) Social Democratic 1, People's
    Party 1; note - the Faroe Islands elects two representatives to the Danish
    Parliament
  Faroese Parliament:
    last held 17 November 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - Social
    Democratic 27.4%, People's Party 21.9%, Cooperation Coalition Party 18.9%,
    Republican Party 14.7%, Home Rule 8.8%, PFIP-CPP 5.9%, other 2.4%; seats -
    (32 total) two-party coalition 17 (Social Democratic 10, People's Party 7),
    Cooperation Coalition Party 6, Republican Party 4, Home Rule 3, PFIP-CPP 2
Diplomatic representation:
    none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark)
Flag:
    white with a red cross outlined in blue that extends to the edges of the
    flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the
    style of the DANNEBROG (Danish flag)
 
:Faroe Islands Economy
 
Overview:
    The Faroese, who have long been enjoying the affluent living standards of
    the Danes and other Scandinavians, now must cope with the decline of the
    all-important fishing industry and with an external debt twice the size of
    annual income. When the nations of the world extended their fishing zones to
    200 nautical miles in the early 1970s, the Faroese no longer could continue
    their traditional long-distance fishing and subsequently depleted their own
    nearby fishing areas. The government's tight controls on fish stocks and its
    austerity measures have caused a recession, and subsidy cuts will force
    further reductions in the fishing industry, which has already been plagued
    with bankrupcies. An annual Danish subsidy of $140 million continues to
    provide roughly one-third of the islands' budget revenues.
GDP:
    purchasing power equivalent - $662 million, per capita $14,000; real growth
    rate 3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    2.0% (1988)
Unemployment rate:
    5-6% (1991 est.)
Budget:
    revenues $425 million; expenditures $480 million, including capital
    expenditures of NA (1991 est.)
Exports:
    $386 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    fish and fish products 88%, animal feedstuffs, transport equipment (1989)
  partners:
    Denmark 20%, Germany 18.3%, UK 14.2%, France 11.2%, Spain 7.9%, US 4.5%
Imports:
    $322 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    machinery and transport equipment 24.4%, manufactures 24%, food and
    livestock 19%, fuels 12%, chemicals 6.5%
  partners:
    Denmark 43.8%, Norway 19.8%, Sweden 4.9%, Germany 4.2%, US 1.3%
External debt:
    $1.3 billion (1989)
Industrial production:
    growth rate NA%
Electricity:
    80,000 kW capacity; 280 million kWh produced, 5,910 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
    fishing, shipbuilding, handicrafts
Agriculture:
    accounts for 27% of GDP and employs 27% of labor force; principal crops -
    potatoes and vegetables; livestock - sheep; annual fish catch about 360,000
    metric tons
Economic aid:
    none
Currency:
    Danish krone (plural - kroner); 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 ore
Exchange rates:
    Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.116 (January 1992), 6.396 (1991), 6.189
    (1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987)
Fiscal year:
    1 April - 31 March
 
:Faroe Islands Communications
 
Highways:
    200 km
Ports:
    Torshavn, Tvoroyri
Merchant marine:
    10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 22,015 GRT/24,007 DWT; includes 1
    short-sea passenger, 5 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off, 2 refrigerated cargo; note
    - a subset of the Danish register
Airports:
    1 with permanent surface runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    good international communications; fair domestic facilities; 27,900
    telephones; broadcast stations - 1 AM, 3 (10 repeaters) FM, 3 (29 repeaters)
    TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables
 
:Faroe Islands Defense Forces
 
Branches:
    no organized native military forces; only a small Police Force is maintained
Note:
    defense is the responsibility of Denmark
 
.