Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 provided courtesy of The Libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Match 80 DB Rec# - 55,827 Dataset-WOFACT Source :CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Source key :CI Program :WORLD FACTBOOK Program key :CI WOFACT Update sched. :Annually ID number :CI WOFACT 079 Title :FAROE ISLANDS Data type :TEXT End year :1994 Date of record:02/16/1994 Keywords 3 : | FAROE ISLANDS Text : FAROE ISLANDS Affiliation: (part of the Danish realm) GEOGRAPHY Location: in the north Atlantic Ocean, located half way between Norway and Iceland Map references: Arctic Region Area: total area: 1,400 km2 land area: 1,400 km2 comparative area: slightly less than eight times the size of Washington, DC Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline: 764 km exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 3 nm International disputes: none Climate: mild winters, cool summers; usually overcast; foggy, windy Terrain: rugged, rocky, some low peaks; cliffs along most of coast Natural resources: fish Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 0% other: 98% Irrigated land: NA km2 Environment: precipitous terrain limits habitation to small coastal lowlands; archipelago of 18 inhabited islands and a few uninhabited islets Note: strategically located along important sea lanes in northeastern Atlantic PEOPLE Population: 48,065 (July 1993 est.) Population growth rate: 0.67% (1993 est.) Birth rate: 18.45 births/1,000 population (1993 est.) Death rate: 7.57 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.) Net migration rate: -4.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.) Infant mortality rate: 8.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.92 years male: 74.51 years female: 81.45 years (1993 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.52 children born/woman (1993 est.) Nationality: noun: Faroese (singular and plural) adjective: Faroese Ethnic divisions: Scandinavian Religions: Evangelical Lutheran Languages: Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% Labor force: 17,585 by occupation: largely engaged in fishing, manufacturing, transportation, and commerce GOVERNMENT conventional long form: none conventional short form: Faroe Islands local long form: none local short form: Foroyar Digraph: FO Type: part of the Danish realm; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark Capital: Torshavn Administrative divisions: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Independence: none (part of the Danish realm; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Constitution: Danish Legal system: Danish National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940) three-party ruling coalition: Social Democratic Party, Marita PETERSEN; Republican Party, Signer HANSEN; Home Rule Party, Hilmar KASS opposition: Cooperation Coalition Party, Pauli ELLEFSEN; Progressive and Fishing Industry Party-Christian People's Party (PFIP-CPP), leader NA; Progress Party, leader NA; People's Party, Jogvan SUND-STEIN Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal Elections: Danish Parliament: last held on 12 December 1990 (next to be held by December 1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (2 total) Social Democratic 1, People's Party 1; note - the Faroe Islands elects two representatives to the Danish Parliament Faroese Parliament: last held 17 November 1990 (next to be held November 1994); results - Social Democratic 27.4%, People's Party 21.9%, Cooperation Coalition Party 18.9%, Republican Party 14.7%, Home Rule 8.8%, PFIP-CPP 5.9%, other 2.4%; seats - (32 total) two-party coalition 17 (Social Democratic 10, People's Party 7), Cooperation Coalition Party 6, Republican Party 4, Home Rule 3, PFIP-CPP 2 Executive branch: Danish monarch, high commissioner, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet (Landsstyri) Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Lgting) Judicial branch: none Leaders: High Commissioner Bent KLINTE (since NA) Head of Government: Prime Minister Marita PETERSEN (since 18 January 1993) Member of: none Diplomatic representation in US: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) US diplomatic representation: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Flag: white with a red cross outlined in blue that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the DANNEBROG (Danish flag) ECONOMY Overview: The Faroese, who have long enjoyed the affluent living standards of the Danes and other Scandinavians, now must cope with the decline of the all-important fishing industry and one of the world's heaviest per capita external debts of nearly $30,000. When the nations of the world extended their fishing zones to 200 nautical miles in the early 1970s, the Faroese no longer could continue their traditional long-distance fishing and subsequently depleted their own nearby fishing areas. The government's tight controls on fish stocks and its austerity measures have caused a recession, and subsidy cuts will force nationalization in the fishing industry, which has already been plagued with bankruptcies. Copenhagen has threatened to withhold its annual subsidy of $130 million - roughly one-third of the islands' budget revenues - unless the Faroese make significant efforts to balance their budget. To this extent the Faroe government is expected to continue its tough policies, including introducing a 20% VAT in 1993, and has agreed to an IMF economic-political stabilization plan. In addition to its annual subsidy, the Danish government has bailed out the second largest Faroe bank to the tune of $140 million since October 1992. National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $662 million (1989 est.) National product real growth rate: 3% (1989 est.) National product per capita: $14,000 (1989 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1988) Unemployment rate: 5%-6% (1991 est.) Budget: revenues $425 million; expenditures $480 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991 est.) Exports: $386 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.) commodities: fish and fish products 88%, animal feedstuffs, transport equipment (ships) (1989) partners: Denmark 20%, Germany 18.3%, UK 14.2%, France 11.2%, Spain 7.9%, US 4.5% Imports: $322 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.) food and livestock 19%, fuels 12%, chemicals 6.5% partners: Denmark 43.8%, Norway 19.8%, Sweden 4.9%, Germany 4.2%, US 1.3% External debt: $1.3 billion (1991) Industrial production: growth rate NA% Electricity: 80,000 kW capacity; 280 million kWh produced, 5,760 kWh per capita (1992) Industries: fishing, shipbuilding, handicrafts Agriculture: accounts for 27% of GDP and employs 27% of labor force; principal crops - potatoes and vegetables; livestock - sheep; annual fish catch about 360,000 metric tons Economic aid: receives an annual subsidy from Denmark of about $130 million Currency: 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 ore Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.236 (January 1993), 6.036 (1992), 6.396 (1991), 6.189 (1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988) Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March COMMUNICATIONS Highways: 200 km Ports: Torshavn, Tvoroyri Merchant marine: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 22,015 GRT/24,007 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 5 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off, 2 refrigerated cargo; note - a subset of the Danish register Airports: total: 1 useable: 1 with permanent-surface runways: 1 with runways over 3659 m: 0 with runways 2440-3659 m: 0 with runways 1220-2439 m: 1 Telecommunications: good international communications; fair domestic facilities; 27,900 telephones; broadcast stations - 1 AM, 3 (10 repeaters) FM, 3 (29 repeaters) TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables Defense forces Branches: small Police Force, no organized native military forces Note: defense is the responsibility of Denmark -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 produced by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK CD-ROM, July, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/7/v.1-2 / R. Muns, UM-St. Louis Libraries Local Filename: WF940078.TXT