The politics of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark, function within the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic dependency, whereby the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The Faroe Islands are politically associated with the Kingdom of Denmark but have been self-governing since 1948. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Løgting. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and the responsibility of Denmark.
The Folketing, also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Established in 1849, until 1953 the Folketing was the lower house of a bicameral parliament, called the Rigsdag; the upper house was the Landsting. It meets in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen.
The Løgting is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm.
Jóannes Dan Eidesgaard is a former Faroese politician. He was the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands from 2004, starting shortly after the general election of 20 January 2004, until 26 September 2008, when a new coalition took office. He served as Finance Minister from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Danish Folketing representing the Faroe Islands from 11 March 1998 until 20 November 2001.
The Union Party is a conservative-liberal, agrarian political party on the Faroe Islands. The party wants to maintain the Faroe Islands' union with Denmark. On 24 October 2015, Bárður á Steig Nielsen succeeded Kaj Leo Johannesen as party leader.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Denmark since 15 June 2012. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was introduced by the Thorning-Schmidt I Cabinet, and approved by the Folketing on 7 June 2012. It received royal assent by Queen Margrethe II on 12 June and took effect three days later. Denmark was the eleventh country in the world and the eighth in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first country in the world to enact registered partnerships, which provided same-sex couples with almost all of the rights and benefits of marriage, in 1989.
Atli Pætursson Dam was a Faroese politician who served as Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands on three occasions, most recently from 1991 to 1993. To this date, he is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Faroese history, having served a total of 16 years.
Høgni Karsten Hoydal, commonly called Høgni Hoydal, is a Faroese politician. He currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the party leader of Tjóðveldi since 1998.
The Faroese People's Party – Radical Self-Government is a pro-Faroese independence conservative and conservative-liberal political party on the Faroe Islands led by Beinir Johannesen. One of the four major parties, it has had eight seats in the Løgting since the 2019 election, making it the joint-largest party, but it has neither of the Faroes' seats in the Folketing.
The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark, also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution, is the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark, applying equally in the Realm of Denmark: Denmark proper, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The first democratic constitution was adopted in 1849, replacing the 1665 absolutist constitution. The current constitution is from 1953. The Constitutional Act has been changed a few times. The wording is general enough to still apply today.
Anfinn Kallsberg was a Faroese politician who was prime minister and leader of the People's Party. First elected to the Faroese parliament in 1980 and consecutively thereafter, Kallsberg served as Fisheries Minister from 1983 to 1985 and for 5 months in Jógvan Sundstein's first coalition government in 1989, and as Economics and Finance Minister from 1996 to 1998 in a coalition led by Edmund Joensen.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Faroe Islands are relatively similar to that of Denmark. The progress of LGBT rights has been slower, however. While same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the Faroe Islands since the 1930s, same-sex couples never had a right to a registered partnership. In April 2016, the Løgting passed legislation legalizing civil same-sex marriage on the Faroes, recognizing same-sex marriages established in Denmark and abroad and allowing same-sex adoption. This was ratified by the Folketing in April 2017. The law went into effect on 1 July 2017.
The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, refers to the area over which the monarch of Denmark is head of state. It consists of metropolitan Denmark—the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark the proper" —and the realm's two autonomous regions: the Faroe Islands in North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is also known as The unity of the Realm.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the Faroe Islands since 1 July 2017. Legislation allowing same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples was approved by the Løgting on 29 April 2016. The Danish Parliament approved the necessary legislative adaptations on 25 April 2017, and the law received royal assent on 3 May and went into effect on 1 July 2017.
Andrass Samuelsen was a Faroese politician and member of the Union Party. He was the first Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands after the autonomy of the Faroe Islands in 1948 (Heimastýrislógin).
Joen Pauli Højgaard Ellefsen was a Faroese politician and member of the Union Party. He was Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands from 1981 to 1985.
Sjúrður Skaale is a Faroese politician, journalist, skydiver, belly dancer, and comedian. He is a member of the Folketing for the Social Democratic Party. From 2008 to 2011 he was a member of the Løgting.
Women in the Faroe Islands are European women who live in or are from the Faroe Islands, a north Atlantic island group and archipelago that is under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. Traditionally, Faroese women have a high standing in the society of Faroe Islanders. Legally, women of the Faroe Islands share equality with men. During the late 19th century, women in the Faroe Islands became wage-earners by participating in jobs such as fish processing and by becoming teachers. In 1915, they obtained women's suffrage. Eventually, Faroe Islander women were able to hold governmental positions.
Annita á Fríðriksmørk is a Faroese politician and teacher. She is a member of Republic (Tjóðveldi).
Anna Falkenberg is a Faroese politician who has been serving as Member of the Folketing for the Union Party since 1 November 2022 where she was elected as part of the 2022 Danish general election. Falkenberg is the second ever Faroese woman to be elected to the Danish parliament.
