ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Faroe Islands profiles of longstanding democracies and of the European Union, and provides essential detail on history, electoral system, political parties and cleavages, and governments. The Faroe Islands were under first Norwegian then Danish rule, and along with Iceland and Greenland remained part of Denmark when Norway was transferred to Sweden in the 1814 Treaty of Kiel. During World War Two the Faroe Islands were occupied by the United Kingdom. A referendum is planned on a new constitution which if passed would grant the Faroe Islands the right to self-determination a la Greenland. The Faroe Islands have never been part of the European Union. Elections to the Faroe Islands parliament have always involved proportional representation, however the number of seats and even more the number of electoral districts has changed. Political divisions in the Faroe Islands have always involved both the left-right divide and issues of independence/relations with Denmark.
