Faroe Islands a reaction to the growing self-government and independence movements, Denmark finally granted the Faroe Islands home-rule with a high degree of local autonomy on 30 March 1948. In 1973 the Faroe Islands declined to join Denmark in entering the European Economic Community (later absorbed into the European Union). 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 Republican Party. The Faroe Islands are an island group consisting of 18 major islands (and
Faroe Islands the Faroe Islands is dominated by arctic-alpine plants, wildflowers, grasses, moss and lichen. Most of the lowland area is grassland and some is heath, dominated by shrubby heathers, mainly "Calluna vulgaris". Among the herbaceous flora that occur in the Faroe Islands is the cosmopolitan marsh thistle, "Cirsium palustre". Although there are no trees native to the Faroe Islands, limited species were able to be successfully introduced to the region, including the Black Cottonwood, also known as the California Poplar (Populus trichocarpa) A few small plantations consisting of plants collected from similar climates such as Tierra del Fuego in South America