The

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

have a

multi-party In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coa ...

system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

s. There are two major ideological cleavages in Faroese politics. In addition to the left-right spectrum, parties are also divided between those that want to maintain the Faroes' place within the

Danish Realm The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denma ...

('unionists') and those that want Faroese independence ('separatists'). The current government is formed by a coalition between the two major centre-right parties, the Union Party and the People's Party, and the small, centrist Centre Party and Self-Government Party.

Political parties with elected representation at a national level

There are currently seven parties represented in the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; da, Lagtinget) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ...

. The two largest parties – each with eight seats – represent centre-right unionism and centre-right separatism, while the next two – each with six seats – represent centre-left unionism and left-wing separatism. There are also three minor parties in the Løgting. Faroe party spectrum

Defunct parties

* Advancement for the Islands (Marxist–Leninist) (''Oyggjaframi (marx-leninistar)'') * Business Party (''Vinnuflokkurin'') * Faroese Communist Party (''Kommunistiski flokkur Føroya'') * Christian People's Party (''Kristiligi fólkaflokkurin''), formerly known as the Progress Party (''Framburðsflokkurin'') * Faroese Socialists (''Føroyskir Sosialistar'') * Faroese Party (''Hin føroyski flokkurin'') * Freedom Union (''Frælsisfylkingin'') * Funny Party (''Hin stuttligi flokkurin'') * Progress Party (''Framsóknarflokkurin'') * The Red 1 May Group * Separatist Party (''Loysingarflokkurin'') * Social Separatist Party (''Sosialistiski loysingarflokkurin'') * Worker's Union (''Verkamannafylkingin'')

Political parties with elected representation at a national level

Defunct parties

See also