Faroe Islands Stamps
Stóridrangur (large monolith), Vagar Island
Pictorial Definitive Stamp Issued in 2011
Though Faroe Islands stamps are a fairly recent addition to the philatelic World, they bear witness to the breathtaking beauty of the North Atlantic and to many centuries of Faroe Islands and Scandinavian history.
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Viking North Atlantic Routes
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Map of the Faroe Islands
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The Faroe Islands are a group of eighteen volcanic islands, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, about half-way between Norway and Iceland and about 200 miles North of Scotland. Since 1948, they have been an internally self-governing state of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Norsemen began settling in the islands at the beginning of the 9th Century, and for the next thousand years, the Faroe Islands would be part of the Kingdom of Norway. The islands would become an important way-point for Norse voyages to Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel awarded the Norwegian colonies of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland to the Kingdom of Denmark, and they have been Danish territories since then.
Establishment of the Faroe Islands Independent Postal Service
Commemorative Stamps Issued in 1976
The first official Faroe Islands stamps appeared in 1975, when the islands
became an autonomous territory of Denmark, and their own postal system
came into being. The Kingdom of Denmark only retained control over the Faroe Islands' military defense, law enforcement, currency, and foreign affairs.
Faroe Islands Provisional Issues of 1919
EUROPA Stamps Issued in 1979
The philatelic history of the Faroe Islands began long before the appearance of the first Faroe Islands stamps. Danish postage stamps had always been used for letter mail in the Faroe Islands. However, during the two World Wars, there were shortages and rate changes that required immediate action by local postal officials.
Emergency provisional stamps were issued in the Faroe
Islands at the end of World War I, in 1919, and at the beginning of
World War II, in 1940-1941. These provisional issues included bisected and surcharged contemporary Danish postage stamps. Authenticated examples of these provisional stamps and covers are now cherished rarities to Faroe Islands and Scandinavia collectors around the World.
Faroe Islands Landscapes
Watercolors by Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
Commemorative Stamps Issued in 1985
Collecting the stamps of the Faroe Islands can provide many years of learning and enjoyment, and a collection of all the stamps issued since 1975 can be easily completed, even for a collector with a very modest budget.
East Bay of Torshavn
Watercolor by Christian Rosenmeyer (1728-1802)
Souvenir Sheet Issued in 1986
West Bay of Torshavn
Watercolor by Christian Rosenmeyer (1728-1802)
Souvenir Sheet Issued in 1987
Links to historical articles and reviews of the stamps of the Faroe Islands will eventually
appear at the top of the third column of this page.
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Faroe Islands Stamps
Faroe Islands
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Issues of 1919-1941
Issues of 1975-1978
Issues of 1979-1981
Issues of 1982-1984
