Municipality of T贸rshavn
Welcome to
T贸rshavn
Municipality of T贸rshavn
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Municipality of Tórshavn
Heðin Mortensen Mayor of Tórshavn
When I look at the city of Tórshavn from my kitchen window, I see a capital in rapid development—a place that thrives on innovation and entrepreneurship. New initiatives come into being all over the city. These are orchestrated by the city council as well as by other actors. As Mayor of Tórshavn, I strive to expand the scope of our city both in terms of new facilities for businesses and recreational opportunities for our citizens. Tórshavn is a capital with an environmental and family-friendly focus and we make every effort to prioritise sustainable solutions and offer activities and entertainment for all ages. Nestled in the heart of the North Atlantic Ocean, we link the northern region together. We therefore welcome businesses of all types and sizes to locate here so that you can discover and shape the future. Once you have visited the city, you may very well want to stay and become a neighbour.
Welcome to Tórshavn.
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Municipality of T贸rshavn
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Municipality of Tórshavn
Welcome to Tórshavn Situated in the middle of the North Atlantic, between Scotland, Iceland and Norway, the Faroe Islands is centrally located for oil and fishery operations. For international companies involved in and around the Faroe Islands and contemplating setting up business or managing operations close to the field, Tórs havn is your best bet. This colourful capital with its unique location and a real sense of community is the natural centre for operations based in the North Atlantic. With an excellent harbour, varied facilities and services and an internationally oriented people, Tórshavn meets all the demands of modern corporations, whether within offshore, IT, research, finance or fish.
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The People Tórshavn is a bustling modern capital inhabited by a well-educated people with an international mindset and an inquisitive, innovative nature. A multi-faceted people, fond of music and singing, creative and competitive, with an affinity for tradition as well as for the latest trends, they have created a miniature metro polis. Traditionally, Tórshavners used to meet with friends and family in their homes, but today cafés are increasingly popular in the social scene. Foreigners will find it easy to make friends and acquaintances when they strike up conversation with the congenial locals. Warm and hospitable, they counterbalance the harshness of nature with their friendly smiles and welcoming attitude to newcomers.
The Workforce Former relative isolation and subjection to tough natural and economic circumstances has created a resilient people with a courageous, entrepreneurial spirit. Faroe Islanders’ sometimes stubborn insistence on seeing opportunities rather than challenges has produced an adventurous business environment with inventive industry and creative products. Being a small nation, it is natural to study abroad and gain some work experience before returning to the islands. Together with a love
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for travelling, this means that people have a broad and open worldview, and a readiness to embrace new ideas and combining them with traditional methods. Recognising the need for self-reliance and educational diversity, Faroese fishermen, craftsmen, workers and academics are greatly esteemed abroad as well as a dependable, loyal workforce at home. The Faroese labour market is dynamic, marked by flexibility and mobility, with a work force highly qualified within its diverse fields, which easily adapts to changed circumstances. Finding the right local personnel to manage expanding organisations should therefore be an effortless task. Tórshavn has always attracted competent and adventurous business people and academics from abroad who have found it easy to get settled here and have become an active and appreciated part of the academic or business milieus. Many who came only for a short stay have ended up choosing to start a family and staying permanently as they have found a safe environment for their children and a stimulating career opportunity for themselves. Newcomers will easily create a new circle of friends among the locals and other expatriates.
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Municipality of Tórshavn
The Town Since higher education of various kinds has historically been taken abroad, the mindset of the returning academics is cosmopolitan with a great knowledge and appreciation of other cultures besides a love of our own. This is reflected in the architecture of Tórs havn. While the old part of town is lovingly preserved in its original shape with small houses close to each other, it still embraces modernity indoors. Other neighbourhoods are in their shape and style products of their own times, influenced by continental trends but always with a very typical Faroese touch, marked by a respect for others and a need for individuality—the different neighbourhoods are almost village-like with children playing in the streets and neighbours getting together over coffee. Traditionally, the Faroese have built detached houses, catering to our need for our own garden, a storehouse and room for at least one car, but there are some terraced houses, too, sometimes showing great individuality between the shared walls, as well as flats.
tivities taking place all year round enjoy quite a large turnout, and during the summer there are many outdoor concerts and festivals to go to, also outside of Tórshavn. Although there is a lot of activity at all hours of the day, it is a safe town with a very low crime-rate. There is a lovely little park in addition to other green commons, a beach and recreational areas to enjoy your spare time out of doors. The many recreational facilities and cultural venues are found mainly around the sports area and in the centre of town. They are home to a variety of activities from lectures and exhibitions to music and plays. Tórshavn boasts many sports clubs, with the different teams enjoying a passionate following both when local teams meet, and in national and international competitions.
But Tórshavn is first and foremost a town with a cosy city centre and a busy harbour. There are several different cafés, bars and restaurants with matching nightlife. The weekends are lively as Tórshavn has a variety of cultural venues, theatres and music scenes with a lot to offer. The different cultural acWelcome to Tórshavn / 9
Municipality of Tórshavn
Trade and Industry Tórshavn is a modern, industrious town in steady development with a strong economy and an innovative business community. The needs of the fishing trade and the oil industry have created a varied supply of internationally oriented businesses and industry accommodating this demand. Tórshavn features a large and busy harbour catering to fishing vessels, cruise ships and international container traffic alike, in addition to a cosy marina. Widened and extended and with an increased depth, this ISPS compliant port is able to receive large vessels and is the only one in the Faroe Islands manned at all times. Further expansions are planned and meanwhile Tórshavn’s satellite ports meet more specific demands.
The core businesses relevant for industrial companies are all based at the Port of Tórs havn with satellite ports. Here you will find a well-functioning shipyard for building, maintenance and repairs, a trawl factory, bunkering, cold storage facilities, warehousing facilities and a fish processing plant. Similarly, the need for various supplies is best met in Tórshavn, which, together with ship supply, has several well-assorted supermarkets and high-street shops along with a lively shopping centre. The global recession has not affected Tórs havn much and the financial market is stable in the Faroe Islands. With national banks establishing branches abroad besides other national players on the market, and Faroese companies listed on the stock exchange, foreign capital is increasingly finding its way to our country. International corporations such as Statoil have offices here, while global and national telecommunication companies run effective services in the Faroe Islands. IT services meet international standards and stable broadband communication is ensured by the SHEFA-2 cable. A modern public sector supporting a comprehensive welfare society with an up-to-date hospital and social agencies helps secure that no one is left behind.
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Enjoyable Tórshavn This peaceful, yet energetic capital is also a popular destination for tourists during the summer. Trying to meet their demands and refined taste has brought about an increase in various activities during the summer, along with a boost in the restaurant business. Faroese chefs have reinvented traditional Faroese cooking and joined the trend among other Scandinavian restaurants with the Nordic kitchen. Their delightful and tasty creations have drawn renowned food critics to Tórs havn, resulting in critical acclaim and high ratings.
The musical scene must be praised, too, as Faroese musicians enjoy a faithful following in Tórshavn and are increasingly drawing the attention of the music industry in Europe and North America alike. Celebrated artists visit the islands for one-off concerts or for one of our summer festivals, with the G! festival especially making its claim to fame abroad. But when Faroese bands like Týr and Hamferð enjoy success in Germany, Lena and Teitur gig the US and Canada, while Eivør tours Europe and Evi wins awards in Ireland, they demonstrate the quality and variety of music from the Faroe Islands also witnessed in downtown Tórshavn.
Travelling The Faroe Islands is within easy, two-hour reach of the continent and Iceland. The local airline company, Atlantic Airways, has daily departures for Copenhagen as well as sche duled flights to Iceland. During the summer, destinations may vary but have included Barcelona, Bergen, London and Milan. An increase in flights from other airline companies is expected, following a recently extended airstrip and with a new, improved terminal under construction. A top-modern passenger ferry also connects the islands to Iceland and Denmark, enabling travellers to bring their cars, luggage and other belongings. Welcome to Tórshavn / 13
Municipality of Tórshavn
Tórshavn is also the natural starting point for trips around the country, as busses and ferries connect at the terminal in the harbour. The excellent infrastructure of the islands, with its many kilometres of good roads, bridges, tunnels and sub-sea tunnels, ensures easy travelling by car, and speedy freighting of goods to and from Tórshavn.
programme is very popular and at present unable to meet the demand of the music-loving townspeople, but a new music school is scheduled for opening in 2014. Together with a jampacked evening-class programme, a great number of sports clubs and several sports halls and pitches, there is bound to be something for even the choosiest individual and the most eclectic family.
Life in Tórshavn
In addition to elementary schools, Tórshavn has four upper-secondary or high school options. The largest is the Student High School, but there is also a Business High School, a Technical High School and a nearby Fishing Industry School. Higher education may be found at the Centre for Maritime Studies and Engineering and at the local University of the Faroe Islands, which has five departments and a Ph.D. and research programme, with a natural focus on marine, energy and environmental studies. Recently a Research Centre, iNova, was established in Tórshavn, supporting and encouraging innovation and research, thus promoting new development in industry and commerce. Intellectual and academic development may, then, become a fringe benefit to an extended stay in Tórshavn.
While a stimulating workplace and career opportunities are very important to most people, it is vital to be able to balance work with family life and leisure activities. In this respect, Tórshavn is ideal as it has all the necessary amenities of modern life. It is a child- and family-friendly town with a great variety of spare time activities and recreational facilities. In recent years, Tórshavn Municipality has focused on meeting family concerns and offers quality day-care and good schools. We have witnessed an increase in recreational areas for the entire family, individually and together, including football fields, an excellent public swimming pool, a running track in addition to the several cultural venues and an active Nordic House. The public Music School
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Municipality of T贸rshavn Postbox 32 FO-110 T贸rshavn Faroe Islands torshavn@torshavn.fo www.torshavn.fo