Faroe Islands Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands (; , ; , ), or the Faeroe Islandsa North Atlantic archipelago located north-northwest of Scotland and about halfway between Norway and Icelandare an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Total area is about with a population of 50,322 in October 2017. The terrain is rugged; the climate is subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc)windy, wet, cloudy, and cool. Temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream. Between 1035 and 1814, the Faroes were part of the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway. In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the
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,