National Library of the Faroe Islands National Library of the Faroe Islands The National Library of the Faroe Islands () is the national library for the Faroe Islands, a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark It is both a public and a research library. The library houses the largest collection of works written in Faroese, works written by Faroese in other languages or translated by them, and works written about the Faroe Islands. The library began in 1828, when the Danish "Amtmaður" (governor) Christian Ludvig Tillisch (in office 1825–30) and his "Amtsrevisor" Jens Davidsen began assembling books for a "Færø Amts Bibliotek" (Danish, 'Faroe County
Faroe Islands "sýslur" (similar to the British "shire": Norðoyar, Eysturoy, Streymoy, Vágar, Sandoy, and Suðuroy). Although today "sýsla" technically means "police district", the term is still commonly used to indicate a geographical region. In earlier times, each "sýsla" had its own assembly, the so-called "várting" ("spring assembly"). The Faroe Islands have been under Norwegian/Danish control since 1388. The 1814 Treaty of Kiel terminated the Danish-Norwegian union, and Norway came under the rule of the King of Sweden, while the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland remained Danish possessions. From ancient times the Faroe Islands had a parliament ("Løgting"), which was abolished in 1816,