Tórshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands.

The city was founded in the 10th century and named after Thor, the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology. In the early history of the Faroes Tórshavn became the political center of the Faroes and still is today. The first settlers established their own parliament called "ting" around 800. The main thing was established on Tinganes in Tórshavn and local things where established in different parts of the islands. Tinganes drew people to trade and to attend court meetings etc.

Climate

Tórshavn features a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc) with average summer highs around 12 °C (54 °F) and average winter highs around 6 °C (43 °F), and with winter temperatures rarely dropping below freezing, and frequent cloudy skies. Average monthly precipitation is highest in fall and winter, peaking in January, owing to frequent, intense storms crossing the area from the North Atlantic Ocean, while May and June are markedly drier months. Tórshavn is among the cloudiest places in the world, with significant sunshine records at only about 2.4 hours of sunshine per day; however, no data exist for places such as the Aleutian Islands or parts of southern Chile, which may have even less sun. Because of the cloudy weather and the ice-free water surrounding Torshavn, its winter temperatures are exceptionally mild for such a northerly location. Summer temperatures are much lower than those found in continental Scandinavia on similar parallels. The temperature amplitude in the period from 1961 to 2010 is a mere 33 °C (59 °F) between the absolute warmest and coldest temperatures.