The 18 Faroe Islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean, at the midpoint between Iceland, Scotland and Norway. Formed by volcanic activity more than 50 million years ago, they were colonised during the sixth century by Irish monks, who brought with them arable crops and sheep (the word faroe is Norse for ‘sheep’). The islanders still produce much of their food locally and, as these images from the Royal Geographical Society show, fishing (including whaling) has dominated the local diet and economy for more than a century


October 2008