Faroe Islands becomes associate member of UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced on Tuesday that Faroe Islands has joined the Paris-based organization as its first associate member from Europe.

The Faroe Islands is an archipelago of 18 islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Scotland and Iceland, with a population of about 49,000 people.

The islands region was accepted as the seventh associate member states of the organization, which already counts 193 member states, a UNESCO statement said.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller filed the application on behalf of Faroes last July because the archipelago has been an autonomous region of Denmark since 1948, the statement said.

According to UNESCO's constitution, "territories or groups of territories that are not responsible for the conducts of their international relations may be admitted to UNESCO as Associate Members ... Their admission and their rights and obligations are determined by the General Conference."

The other six associate members are British Virgin Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, China's Macao, Cayman Islands and Tokelau.

Source: Xinhua