Faroe Islanders
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Faroese people or Faroe Islanders (
About 21,000 Faroese live in neighbouring countries, particularly in Denmark, Iceland and Norway. Most Faroese are citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark, in which the Faroe Islands are a constituent nation. The Faroese language is one of the North Germanic languages and is closely related to Icelandic and to western Norwegian varieties.Origins
The first known settlers of the Faroe Islands were Gaelic hermits and monks who arrived in the 6th century.[6]
The
Historians have understood since the time of the Færeyinga saga that the Viking Grímur Kamban was the first settler in the Faroes. The Norwegians must have known about the isles before leaving Norway. If Grímur Kamban had settled sometime earlier, this could explain the Norwegians' knowledge of them. Another, more logical explanation might be that the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland told the Norwegians of the islands.[citation needed]
While Grímur is an Old Norse first name, Kamban indicates a Celtic origin. Thus, he could have been a man from Ireland, Scotland or Isle of Man, where the Vikings already had settlements. Some place names from the oldest settlements on the Faroes suggest that some of the settlers perhaps came from the Scottish islands and the British coast.
Y chromosomes, tracing male descent, are 87% Scandinavian,[7] but mitochondrial DNA, tracing female descent, is 84% Celtic.[5]
See also
- List of Faroese people
- Demographics of the Faroe Islands
- Culture of the Faroe Islands
- Flag of the Faroe Islands
- Faroese Dane
References
- ^ According to a 2009 estimate, the population of the Faroe Islands was 49,000, ~92% of that population was Faroese born, which is approximately 45,000. (See demographics of the Faroe Islands)
- ^ Politiken Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 2006 (newspaper written in Danish)
- ^ "Table 5 Persons with immigrant background by immigration category, country background and sex. 1 January 2009". www.ssb.no. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ISBN 0313309841. Archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ^ PMID 16434998.
- ^ "20 things you didn't know about The Faroe Islands – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- S2CID 6040039.
Further reading
- Arge, Símun, Guðrun Sveinbjarnardóttir, Kevin Edwards, and Paul Buckland. 2005. "Viking and Medieval Settlement in the Faroes: People, Place and Environment". Human Ecology. 33, no. 5: 597–620.