四百年以來的鱈魚漁業衰退後, 漁業為生的法羅群島(GDP有兩成都是來自漁業)只能依靠丹麥以援助方式(占GDP 3-5%)勉強維持8萬只羊和五萬人口. 2014年全球GDP排名為166位. 島上唯一的大學以本地方言授課, 使到中學畢業生紛紛出走歐盟以學習更多語言, 日後留歐就業便會更加便利. 大學只設護士學院無醫學院. 青年出走使到資訊科技IT的發展缺乏人手. 若不出走將來大多在漁, 農界別就業. 傳統漁農業投入大, 收獲少, 危險性高, 老一代漁人農人退休後, 後繼無人的機會甚大. 農業在寒冷的北歐是不能與南歐,中歐相提并論的.
以同樣五萬人口的格陵蘭為例, 長期在丹麥升學打工的黃種人即有壹萬六千人, 占32%(即每三人有一人), 有一成人在(丹麥)社交方面有問題. 值得一提的是, 格陵蘭自殺率全球最高, 十萬人有100人自殺, 是日本的五倍. 企圖自殺不遂就更多, 每四人便有一人. 青少年自殺率是其他地區兩倍. 估計是與天氣日照酗酒經濟有關.
法羅群島青年男女出走歐盟的後果類似以下例子: 因為年青人畢業後都往東南部省份發展, 黑龍江省政府稅收大減, 但仍然要支付龐大的養老金費用。當局估計單是養老金，今年已出現320多億缺口，這個赤字必須要中央出手解救。Source:
加拿大紐芬蘭1992年全面禁止捕鱈後, 昔日漁人前往海上鑽油臺, 或Fort McMurray 轉業當石油工人, 收入是從前三倍, 上班2個星期, 休息一星期, 不少已從紐芬蘭撤走. 紐芬蘭沒有橋連通大陸, 交通運輸不便和昂貴, 居住人口日漸減少, 遙遠村落的高中學生更要在網上上課. Fogol Island 居民2/3已遷走.
冰島1918年獨立後法羅群島漁船皆轉往格陵蘭捕鱈, 一去半年, 家中婦女不論大小皆精通打羊毛毛冷, 供出口或自用. 現時全島有八萬只羊. 懸崖的鳥蛋, 海裏的鯨魚都是可供食用的.
近期法羅群島希望發展漁產(占出口94%)加工以改善經濟. 也有漁民以魚網圈養三文魚, 部份出口到中國.
就近的海洋石油和陸地上的煤也有待開發. 風力發電有18.6MW裝機容量, 產出11%電力(最新統計為60% http://islanddiaries.knowledge.ca/islands/Faroe-Islands). 漁船和運輸, 4間發電站都得使用柴油. 法羅群島夏天風力強勁, 連電視節目主持人也吹得動. 柴油發電較風力昂貴, 已面臨淘汰. 丹麥風電享譽全球, 早該在法羅群島有所作為.
島上沒有樹(有二個小樹林), 連快餐店也沒有(最近有Burger King), 唯一一間超市火龍果賣到50多港幣一只. 每個星期五晚電視臺會有Bingo 抽獎活動. 民風淳樸出街可以不鎖門. 有2,000名男士沒有配偶. 近期島內有300多名泰國,菲律賓新娘.
氣候嚴寒大風多雨, 冬季四個月的近乎漆黑帶來了全球最高的生育率.
Source: https://www.worlddata.info/europe/faroe-islands/sunset.php
Average lentgh of daylight in Tórshavn
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Wives wanted in the Faroe Islands
There's a shortage of women in the
Faroe Islands. So local men are increasingly seeking wives from further
afield - Thailand and the Philippines in particular. But what's it like
for the brides who swap the tropics for this windswept archipelago?
When
Athaya Slaetalid first moved from Thailand to the Faroe Islands, where
winter lasts six months, she would sit next to the heater all day:"People told me to go outside because the sun was shining but I just said: 'No! Leave me alone, I'm very cold.'"
Moving here six years ago was tough for Athaya at first, she admits. She'd met her husband Jan when he was working with a Faroese friend who had started a business in Thailand.
Jan knew in advance that bringing his wife to this very different culture, weather and landscape would be challenging.
There are now more than 300 women from Thailand and Philippines living in the Faroes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but in a population of just 50,000 people they now make up the largest ethnic minority in these 18 islands, located between Norway and Iceland.
In recent years the Faroes have experienced population decline, with young people leaving, often in search of education, and not returning. Women have proved more likely to settle abroad. As a result, according to Prime Minister Axel Johannesen, the Faroes have a "gender deficit" with approximately 2,000 fewer women than men.
This, in turn, has lead Faroese men to look beyond the islands for romance. Many, though not all, of the Asian women met their husbands online, some through commercial dating websites. Others have made connections through social media networks or existing Asian-Faroese couples.
For the new arrivals, the culture shock can be dramatic.
Officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroes have their own language (derived from Old Norse) and a very distinctive culture - especially when it comes to food. Fermented mutton, dried cod and occasional whale meat and blubber 鲸脂, 赘肉 are typical of the strong flavours here, with none of the traditional herbs and spices of Asian cooking.
And, although it never gets as cold as neighbouring Iceland, the wet, cool climate is a challenge for many people. A good summer's day would see the temperature reach 16°C.
Athaya is a confident woman with a ready smile who now works in the restaurant business in Torshavn, the Faroese capital. She and Jan share a cosy 舒适 cottage on the banks of a fjord 峡湾 surrounded by dramatic mountains. But she's honest about how difficult swapping 交換 countries was at first.
"When our son Jacob was a baby, I was at home all day with no-one to talk to," she says.
Then, when Jacob started kindergarten, she began working in catering and met other Thai women.
"That was important because it gave me a network. And it gave me a taste of home again."
Krongrak Jokladal felt isolated at first, too, when she arrived from Thailand. Her husband Trondur is a sailor and works away from home for several months at a time.
It's a far cry from Krongrak's previous job as head of an accountancy division in Thai local government.
But she is unusual in that she runs her own business. Even for many highly educated Asian women in the Faroes, the language barrier means they have to take lower-level work.
Axel Johannesen, the prime minister, says helping the newcomers overcome this is something the government takes seriously.
"The Asian women who have come in are very active in the labour market, which is good," he says. "One of our priorities is to help them learn Faroese, and there are government programmes offering free language classes."
"After a long day at work she would sit reading the English-Faeroese dictionary," he says. "She was extraordinarily dedicated."
"I was lucky," Bunlom adds. "I told Kristjan that if I was moving here he had to find me a job. And he did, and I was working with Faeroese people in a hotel so I had to learn how to talk to them."
In an age when immigration has become such a sensitive topic in many parts of Europe, Faeroes society seems remarkably accepting of foreign incomers."I think it helps that the immigrants we have seen so far are mostly women," says local politician Magni Arge, who also sits in the Danish parliament, "They come and they work and they don't cause any social problems.
"But we've seen problems when you have people coming from other cultures into places like the UK, in Sweden and in other parts of Europe - even Denmark. That's why we need to work hard at government level to make sure we don't isolate people and have some kind of sub-culture developing."
But Antonette Egholm, originally from the Philippines, hasn't encountered any anti-immigrant sentiment. I met her and her husband as they moved into a new flat in Torshavn.
"People here are friendly, she explains, "and I've never experienced any negative reactions to my being a foreigner. I lived in metro Manila and there we worried about traffic and pollution and crime. Here we don't need to worry about locking the house, and things like healthcare and education are free. At home we have to pay. And here you can just call spontaneously at someone's house, it's not formal. For me, it feels like the Philippines in that way."
Likewise, her husband Regin believes increasing diversity is something that should be welcomed not feared.
"We actually need fresh blood here," he adds, "I like seeing so many children now who have mixed parentage. Our gene pool is very restricted, and it's got to be a good thing that we welcome outsiders who can have families."
He acknowledges that he's had occasional ribbing 取笑 from some male friends who jokingly ask if he pressed "enter" on his computer to order a wife. But he denies he and Antonette have encountered any serious prejudice as a result of their relationship.
Athaya Slaetalid tells me that some of her Thai friends have asked why she doesn't leave her small hamlet 小村莊, and move to the capital, where almost 40% of Faroe Islanders now live. They say Jacob would have more friends there.
"No, I don't need to do that," she says. "I'm happy here now, not just surviving but making a life for our family.
"Look," she says, as we step into the garden overlooking the fjord. "Jacob plays next to the beach. He is surrounded by hills covered in sheep and exposed to nature. And his grandparents live just up the road. There is no pollution and no crime. Not many kids have that these days. This could be the last paradise on earth."
Tim Ecott is the author of Stealing Water, Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World and Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Luscious Substance.
延伸閱讀: 開發法羅群島風力資源
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/faroe-islands-support-wind-with-lithium-ion-battery
