Photos

Grayish white over the deep blue Norwegian Sea, a thick cloud of smoke drifts north off the western coast of Norway in this image, taken on 7 May 2006, by NASA's Aqua satellite. The smoke is coming from hundreds of fires burning in western Russia, most of which are probably agricultural fires. By the time this image was taken, smoke had lingered over the Norwegian Sea for more than a week as the fires continued to burn. In this image, hazy skies extend from Denmark, lower right, west to Iceland, upper left. The densest of the smoke hangs over the Shetland Islands (lower center) and the Faroe Islands (left center). The northern shores of Great Britain are in the lower left corner of the image. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Harbor at Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.

Small harbor and mountains in the Faroe Islands.

Small harbor in the Faroe Islands.

Early timber buildings have survived in the Tinganes area of Torshavn, which contains government offices and shops. Tinganes is the historic site of the Faroese landsstyri (government); the name means "parliament jetty" or "parliament point" in Faroese.

A government office building in Torshavn.

In the Tinganes section of Torshavn with some of its preserved timber buildings.

The Faroe Islands are a North Atlantic archipelago located 320 km (200 mi) north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland; they are an autonomous territory of Denmark. The Islands have a total area of about 1,400 sq km (540 sq mi), and one of the Island’s most iconic sites is the Mulafossur waterfall, situated on Vagar Island, which is over 30 m (100 ft) in height.

Tjørnuvík is the northernmost village on Streymoy Island in the Faroe Islands. Tjørnuvík is nestled in a deep valley, isolated from other villages in sight. On most days, clouds congregate above the village due to the height of the surrounding mountains. During the winter months, there is very little sunlight as the sun does not reach above the steep mountains.