A significant number of male population in the Faroe Islands say they have been wanting to get married, but there’s just one problem.
The shortage of women in the Denmark-based islands means the men are increasingly seeking wives from the likes of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries in particular.
The already humble 50,000 population is further declining, meaning there are approximately 2000 less women than men.
This in turn has seen the Faroese men broaden their search for a romantic partner, well online at least.
Others have made connections through social media networks or existing Asian-Faroese couples.
More than 300 women left their tropical southeast Asian climate for the windswept Faroe Islands after meeting their partners through commercial dating sites.
It doesn’t sound like a lot, said BBC reports, but these women now make up the largest ethnic minority in these 18 islands, located between Norway and Iceland.
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, according to Prime Minister Axel Johannesen.
For the new arrivals, the culture shock can be dramatic.
But Antonette Egholm, originally from the Philippines, told Tim Ecott of BBC about her experience of moving to Faroe, highlighting that she hasn’t encountered any anti-immigrant sentiment.
“People here are friendly,” she explains, adding that, “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 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.
