Falkland Islands

I

Introduction

Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas, island group, British dependency, in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the Strait of Magellan and northeast of the southern tip of South America. The approximately 200 islands are divided into two main groups on the east and west by the narrow Falkland Sound. The Falkland Islands have a total area of 12,200 sq km (4,700 sq mi). The two largest islands are East Falkland Island, with an area of 6,610 sq km (2,550 sq mi), and West Falkland Island, with an area of 4,530 sq km (1,750 sq mi), including, in both cases, adjacent small islands.

The Falkland Islands (formerly known as the Falkland Islands and Dependencies) constitute a self-governing British dependency. Until 1985, South Georgia (4,070 sq km/1,570 sq mi), an island 1,300 km (800 mi) southeast of the Falkland Islands, and the South Sandwich Islands (3,590 sq km/ 1,390 sq mi), about 750 km (470 mi) southeast of South Georgia, were governed as dependencies of the Falklands. Under a new constitution, however, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands became a separate British dependency.

II

The Land

Geologically, the Falkland Islands are a part of Patagonia in Argentina, being connected with the mainland by a raised submarine plateau. East Falkland is divided by two deep fjords and is traversed in the north by Wickham Heights, which rise in Mount Usborne to 705 m (2,313 ft) above sea level. The remainder of the terrain is low and rolling, forming either marshlands or grazing pastures. West Falkland is hilly, especially in the east, where the Hornby Mountains (including Mount Adam, 700 m/ 2,300 ft above sea level) extend parallel to Falkland Sound. The low-lying areas of the Falklands are composed of clay, slate, and soft sandstone, and the hills and ridges are formed of hard sandstone and white quartzite. Some galena, with a high percentage of silver, is found on the islands. Fine white sand, suitable for glassmaking, and fairly large peat deposits are also located here. The temperature varies from an average of 3° C (37° F) in the winter to 8° C (47° F) in the summer. The humidity is constantly high, with rainfall approximately 250 days of the year, November being the only nearly dry month. The Falklands are to a large extent windswept, and the terrain is almost devoid of trees. Attempts at forestation have not met with success. The shores of the main islands are deeply indented, providing numerous sheltered harbors. A lighthouse is maintained at Cape Pembroke, East Falkland, near Stanley (2003 population, 2,000), the chief town and main port. The total population of the islands was estimated to be 2,317 in 1995. An airport is located near Stanley.

III

Economy and Government

Sheep raising and wool processing are the principal economic activities on the Falklands. Wool is the leading export by far; some hides and skins also are shipped. Imports are principally foodstuffs, fuels, textiles, machinery, and hardware.

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Under a 1985 constitution, the islands are administered by a British governor and a legislative council of ten members, eight of whom are elected. The other two members, who have no vote, are the chief executive and the financial secretary; they also serve on the executive council, along with three legislators and the governor, who presides.

IV

History

John Davis, an English navigator and explorer, may have been the first European to sight the Falklands, in 1592. In 1600 a Dutch navigator, Sebald Van Weert, visited the islands and called them the Sebald Islands, a name that still appears on some Dutch maps. Captain John Strong, an Englishman, navigated the sound between East and West Falkland in 1690 and named it Falkland Sound after Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland. The English name for the islands was then taken from that of the sound. In 1764 French colonists from Saint-Malo (hence the name Malvinas) established a settlement on East Falkland, and the following year the British settled on West Falkland. In 1770 Spain bought out the French, and in 1774 the British left the islands. In 1816 Argentina overthrew Spanish rule and in 1820 claimed sovereignty of the islands. But in 1833 Britain took control of the islands. Argentina continued to claim the islands, however.

Negotiations to settle the sovereignty dispute between Argentina and Britain began in the mid-1960s at the United Nations. The talks were still in progress in April 1982, when Argentine forces invaded and occupied the islands for about ten weeks in an attempt to settle the issue by force. They were defeated by a British task force and formally surrendered on June 14. Argentina continued to claim the islands; the British government refused to participate in further negotiations, but the two nations resumed diplomatic relations in 1990.

In 1992 seismologists discovered significant petroleum and natural gas reserves in the Falklands' territorial waters. In September 1995 Argentina and Britain signed a joint agreement covering oil and gas exploration in a specially designated zone southwest of the disputed Falkland Islands. The two countries agreed to establish a commission that would oversee the licensing of companies seeking to bid on rights to explore the waters, the division of royalties, and the implementation of worker safety and environmental protection measures. The next month, Argentina began auctioning oil exploration licenses for areas just outside the disputed waters, between Argentina and the Falklands.