Just like Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been self-governing countries within the British Commonweath since 1948. Remember, you're being quizzed on countries, not realms, here!
Please note the instructions. Territories of the United Kingdom like Gibraltar and the Falklands are subject to the jurisdiction of the UK, but do not form a part of it. Faroe Islands are a constituent country, not a territory, of the 3-country Kingdom of Denmark. If Greenland was close enough, it would be here, but it's 1464 km / 909 km away.
Faroe Islands is an absolute bogus answer. And yes, I have read the instructions. They are in no way, shape or form comparable to Australia and the like. They have Danish citizenship, they have representation in the Danish parliament. They are a territory, self governing yes, but a territory none the less.
We respectfully disagree. If anything is "absolute bogus", it is your comment. If you had read the instructions as you claim, then you'd know that the answer is perfectly correct. Now, moving on from your excited hyperbole, countries don't come in black-and-white but in varying shades, depending on the criteria you use. We treat the Faroes as a country because they display enough traits of nationhood to be treated as such. We'll give you a couple: It chooses not to be a part of the European Union, which of course would be impossible to achieve if it was indivisibly a part of Denmark, because countries cannot be half-in and half-out of the EU. It has trade and commerce relationships with other countries separately from the (mainland) country of Denmark. It is recognised as an independent sporting nation in many codes. There is much more, but you get the idea. Cheers Jeremy
This is the only quiz I've ever come across to have the Faroes as an independent country. Also, the fact that this is the countries closest to the UK, not England, also speaks for itself. Why don't you treat Scotland/England/Wales/Northern Ireland as independent countries then? The Faroe Islands are self governing, but NOT sovereign. They have autonomy in foreign relations because of a treaty with Denmark. Just stick to the 196, otherwise there's no way of knowing what you personally define as a country. Like so many of the other people in the comments also suggests. You could also argue that the British Crown dependancies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man should count, as they are self governing and not a part of the UK. But hey, it's your quiz. Why listen to what your audience thinks.
We use the 205-country template in all of our quizzes, except where a quiz gets featured (in which case Dan edits it to work from his 196-country template). The comment that appears in the instructions will make it plain to you that the 205-country template is being used.
And then why Faroe islands? Its part of Denmark
If you put in Faroe islands you should also put in Greenland