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
Geography of the Faroe Islands experience less than this, as the weather station is located at 105 meters above sea level. Akraberg is milder than much of the Faroe Islands and experiences frost on 38 days in an average year, possibly less in lower areas, as the weather station is located at an elevation of 101 meters above sea level. Vágar has colder and snowier winters than most other places in the archipelago. Lower temperatures combined with higher precipitation are responsible for this, and measurable snow cover can be seen- a rarity in the Faroe Islands, in which snow cover (in areas which regularly experience