Israel vs. Faroe Island???

"The Faroe Islands are one of the last places in Europe where everyday life brings what people elsewhere look for: closeness, nature and peace.

The geographical location and size of myr islands have contributed to the preservation of our own culture and language. Today we consider our modest size a benefit inasmuch as we have a choice how close we want to be to the outside world and vice versa.

The Faroe Islands have no ambition to become a goal of mass tourism. But more and more foreigners would like to visit our islands, and the we the Faroese want them to feel welcome. We have therefore started to expand tourist facilities, a task which is being coordinated by the Faroese Government tourist board.

Hotel and youth hostel capacity is being enlarged, package tours arranged, excursion organised and tourist brochures prepared. The possibilities of travelling to the Faroes by boat or plane are now better than ever, including the possibility of combining a stay in the Faroe Islands with a visit to Norway, Scotland or Iceland.

Man is a minority here. Besides 43,000 people, there are 3.5 million birds that call the Faroes their home. The bird cliffs have permanent inhabitants and returing visitors, and in summer, the spartan homes on the cliff ledges are overcrowded. They don´t need to catch the chairman´s eye to be allowed to speak, and there is a lot of chattering about the catch out there in the great depths.

These are birds which spend most of their lives at sea. Several of the species come ashore only during breeding time and leave the bird cliffs as soon as the brood is fledged.

80000 sheep graze on the Faroese mountainsides. Free-range animals in the true sense of the word. In places difficult to access they are only in touch with humans twice in their lifetime: when they are let loose as lambs and when they are herded together as fully grown animals. In a few places where sheep are let loose in bird cliffs or on isolated rock formations in the sea, each individual sheep is sold by auction after being gathered.