Wives Wanted in the Faroe Islands

Men in the Faroe Islands are having to look far beyond their shores for marriage. The remote, windswept archipelago between Norway and Iceland, with close ties to Denmark, has seen an influx of women from South-East Asia who have come to marry Faroese men.

In recent years the islands have been experiencing a declining population. Young women in particular have been leaving the islands, often for education, and not returning. One complaint from them is that their close-knit community has too conservative and masculine a culture where sheep farming, hunting and fishing are still dominant. For some women Faroese society is simply too small, too constraining.

There are now approximately 2,000 fewer women of marrying age in the total population of 50,000. In response, some men have been looking elsewhere for partners, from countries like Thailand and the Philippines. Tim Ecott meets these foreign women adjusting to life in this isolated group of islands where the elements are harsh and the language impenetrable.

Producer: John Murphy

(Photo: Jan, Athaya and Jacob beside a fjord in the Faroe Islands)