The Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory of Denmark, keep Western European Time: UTC+0 in winter, UTC+1 in summer (BST equivalent, following the same clock-change dates as the UK and Ireland). This places the Faroes in a slightly different timezone rhythm than Denmark itself, which is on CET (UTC+1 winter, UTC+2 summer).
You can be in Copenhagen and call someone in Tórshavn and be speaking with someone who is an hour behind you, despite the Faroes being a Danish territory.
A thousand islands, eighteen inhabited
The Faroe archipelago consists of eighteen inhabited islands and a few rocky outcrops, scattered in the North Atlantic between Norway, Iceland, and Scotland. The population is around 55,000 people, with the capital Tórshavn being one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.
At 62 degrees north, the Faroes have striking seasonal light variation. In June, the sky never fully darkens; there are a few hours of deep twilight but no real night. In December, the sun barely clears the hills. The June clock says midnight but the light says otherwise. The December clock says noon but the light says late afternoon.
The Faroese have adapted to this through centuries of farming and fishing. The midnight sun is not a surprise or a novelty; it is the rhythm of June. The dark months are the rhythm of winter.
Language and independence of mind
The Faroese language, Faroese (føroyskt), is a North Germanic language closely related to Old Norse and more distantly to Icelandic. It was suppressed by the Danish government during much of the 18th and 19th centuries, with Danish imposed as the language of church, school, and administration. The revival of Faroese as a written language in the 19th century was a significant cultural assertion.
The Faroes have their own parliament (Løgting), their own passport system, and their own time, which is not quite Danish time. This independence of practice in small matters reflects a broader relationship with Denmark that is close but not identical.
The grindadráp
The Faroe Islands are internationally known for the grindadráp, the traditional drive hunting of pilot whales that has been practiced there for centuries. The hunts are timed by the arrival of whale pods near the islands, which is unpredictable and not governed by the clock at all. When a pod is spotted, signals go out, boats gather, and the hunt proceeds.
The grindadráp is controversial internationally, defended vigorously by Faroese who regard it as traditional subsistence practice, condemned by animal welfare organizations. Whatever one thinks of the practice, it is a useful reminder that many of the most important time-reckoning systems in island cultures operate on natural rhythms rather than UTC offsets.
