The 'Falkland Islands' (
[1]) are an
archipelago in the
South Atlantic Ocean, located 300 miles (483 km) from the coast of
Argentina, 671 miles (1,080 km) west of the
Shag Rocks (
South Georgia), and 584 miles (940 km) north of
Antarctica (
Elephant Island). They consist of two main islands,
East Falkland and
West Falkland, together with 776 smaller islands.
[2] Stanley, on East Falkland, is the
capital city. The islands are a self-governing
Overseas Territory of the
United Kingdom, but have been the subject of a
claim to sovereignty by Argentina since the
British invasion of 1833.
[3]
In pursuit of this claim in 1982, the islands were
invaded by Argentina, precipitating the two-month-long undeclared
Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, which resulted in the defeat and withdrawal of Argentine forces. Since the war there has been strong economic growth in both
fisheries and tourism. The inhabitants of the islands are
British citizens (since a
1983 Act) and under Argentine Law are eligible for Argentine
citizenship.
[4] Many trace their origins on the islands to early 19th-century
Scottish immigration. The island's residents reject the Argentine
sovereignty claim.
[5]
Name
The islands are referred to in the
English language as "[The] Falkland Islands". This name dates from an expedition led by John Strong in 1690, who named the islands after his patron,
Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland. The
Spanish name for the islands, ''"Islas Malvinas"'', is derived from the
French name ''"Îles Malouines"'', bestowed in 1764 by
Louis Antoine de Bougainville, after the mariners and fishermen from the
Breton port of
Saint-Malo who became the island's first known human settlers.
The
ISO designation is "Falkland Islands (Malvinas)".
Due to the ongoing sovereignty dispute, the use of many Spanish names is considered offensive in the Falkland Islands, particularly those associated with the
1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands.
[6] General Sir
Jeremy Moore would not allow the use of Islas Malvinas in the surrender document, dismissing it as a
propaganda term.
[7]
History
Main articles: History of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands have had a complex history since their discovery, with
France,
Britain,
Spain, and
Argentina all claiming possession, and establishing as well as abandoning settlements on the islands. The
Falklands Crisis of 1770 was nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain. The Spanish government's claim was continued by Argentina after the
latter's independence in 1816 and the
independence war in 1817. The United Kingdom took control of the islands by force with the
1833 invasion of the Falkland Islands following the destruction of the Argentine settlement at
Puerto Soledad by the
American sloop
USS ''Lexington'' (
28 December 1831). Argentina has continued to claim sovereignty over the islands, and the dispute was used by the
military junta as a reason to invade and briefly occupy the islands before being defeated in the two-month-long
Falklands War in 1982 by a United Kingdom task force which returned the islands to British control.
Camp settlement.
The islands were uninhabited when they were first discovered by
European explorers. There is disputed evidence of prior settlement by humans, based on:
★ The existence of the
Falkland Island fox, or Warrah (now extinct), on the islands. It is thought that humans brought it to the islands, but it may have reached the islands by itself via a
land bridge when the
sea level was much lower during the last
ice age.
★ A scattering of undated
artifacts including
arrowheads and the remains of a
canoe.
The first European explorer to sight the islands is widely thought to be
Sebald de Weert, a
Dutch sailor, in 1600. Although several British and Spanish historians maintain their own explorers discovered the islands earlier, some older maps, particularly Dutch ones, used the name "Sebald Islands", after de Weert.
In January 1690,
English sailor John Strong, captain of the ''Welfare'', was heading for
Puerto Deseado (in Argentina); but driven off course by contrary winds, he reached the Sebald Islands instead and landed at Bold Cove. He sailed between the two principal islands and called the passage "Falkland Channel" (now
Falkland Sound), after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland (1659–1694), who as Commissioner of the
Admiralty had financed the expedition, later becoming First Lord of the Admiralty. From this body of water the island group later took its collective English name.
The first settlement on the Falkland Islands, called Port Saint Louis, was founded by the French navigator and military commander Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1764 on Berkeley Sound, in present-day
Port Louis,
East Falkland.
Unaware of the French presence, in January 1765 British captain
John Byron explored and claimed
Saunders Island, at the western end of the group, where he named the harbour of
Port Egmont, and sailed near other islands, which he also claimed for
King George III. A British settlement was built at Port Egmont in 1766. Also in 1766, Spain acquired the French colony, and after assuming effective control in 1767, placed the islands under a governor subordinate to the
Buenos Aires colonial administration. Spain attacked Port Egmont, ending the British presence there in 1770. The expulsion of the British settlement
brought the two countries to the brink of war, but a peace treaty allowed the British to return in 1771 with neither side relinquishing sovereignty.
[8]
As a result of economic pressures resulting from the upcoming
American War of Independence, the United Kingdom unilaterally chose to withdraw from many of her overseas settlements in 1774.
[9][10] Upon her withdrawal in 1776 the UK left behind a
plaque asserting her claims. From then on, Spain alone maintained a settlement ruled from
Buenos Aires under the control of the
Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata until 1811. On leaving in 1811, Spain, too, left behind a plaque asserting her claims.
Upland.
When Argentina declared its independence from Spain in 1816, it laid claim to the islands according to the ''
uti possidetis juris'' principle, since they had been under the administrative jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. On
6 November 1820, Colonel
David Jewett, an American sailor at the service of Buenos Aires and captain of the frigate ''Heroina'', raised the flag of the
United Provinces of the River Plate (which later became Argentina) at Port Louis. He warned the British and American
seal hunting ships present that they did not have authorisation to hunt seals in the area, and then returned to Buenos Aires; the sealers ignored his warning.
Occupation began in 1826 with the foundation of a settlement and a penal colony. The settlement was destroyed by United States warships in 1831 after the Argentinian governor of the islands Luis Vernet seized U.S. seal hunting ships during a dispute over fishing rights. They left behind escaped prisoners and pirates. In November 1832, Argentina sent another governor who was killed in a mutiny.
In January 1833, British forces returned and informed the Argentine commander that they intended to assert British sovereignty. The existing settlers were allowed to remain, with an
Irish member of Vernet's settlement, William Dickson, appointed as the Islands' governor. Vernet's deputy, Matthew Brisbane, returned later that year and was informed that the British had no objections to the continuation of Vernet's business ventures provided there was no interference with British control.
[11][12][13][14]
The
Royal Navy built a base at
Stanley, and the islands became a strategic point for navigation around
Cape Horn. A
World War I naval battle, the
Battle of Falkland Islands, took place in December 1914, with a British victory over the
Germans. During
World War II, Stanley served as a Royal Navy station and serviced ships which took part in the
Battle of the River Plate.
Sovereignty over the islands became an issue again in the latter half of the 20th century. Argentina, which had never renounced its claim to the islands, saw the creation of the
United Nations as an opportunity to present its case before the rest of the world. In 1945, upon signing the
UN Charter, Argentina stated that it reserved its right to sovereignty of the islands, as well as its right to recover them. The United Kingdom responded in turn by stating that, as an essential precondition for the fulfilment of UN Resolution 1514,
[15] regarding the de-colonisation of all territories still under foreign occupation, the Falklanders first had to vote for the British withdrawal at a
referendum to be held on the issue.
Talks between British and Argentine foreign missions took place in the 1960s, but failed to come to any meaningful conclusion. A major sticking point in all the negotiations was that the two thousand inhabitants of mainly British descent preferred that the islands remain British territory.
Argentine links
There were no air links to the islands until 1971, when the
Argentine Air Force (FAA), which operates the state airline
LADE, began
amphibious flights between
Comodoro Rivadavia and Stanley using
Grumman HU-16 Albatross aircraft.
[16]
Following a
FAA request, the UK and Argentina reached an agreement for the FAA to construct the first runway. Flights began using
Fokker F27 and continued with
Fokker F28 aircraft twice a week until 1982. This was the only air link to the islands.
YPF, the Argentine national oil and gas company, now part of
Repsol YPF, supplied the islands' energy needs.
Falklands War
Main articles: Falklands War
On
2 April 1982, Argentina
invaded the Falkland Islands and other British territories in the South Atlantic (
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands). The
military junta which had ruled Argentina since 1976 sought to maintain power by diverting public attention from the nation's
poor economic performance. They attempted to do this by playing off long-standing feelings of the Argentines towards the islands.
[17] British writers hold that the United Kingdom's reduction in military capacity in the South Atlantic also encouraged the invasion.
[18][19][20]
The
United Nations Security Council issued
Resolution 502, calling on Argentina to withdraw forces from the Islands and to both parties to seek a diplomatic solution.
[21] International reaction ranged from support in the
Latin American countries (with the exception of
Chile), to opposition in Europe (with the exception of
Spain), the
Commonwealth, and eventually the United States. The British sent an
expeditionary force to retake the islands, leading to the
Falklands War. After short but fierce naval and air battles, the British landed at San Carlos Water on
21 May, and a land campaign followed until the Argentine forces surrendered on
14 June.
Following the war, the British increased their military presence on the islands, constructing
RAF Mount Pleasant and increasing the military garrison. Although the United Kingdom and Argentina resumed diplomatic relations in 1989, no further negotiations on sovereignty have taken place.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of the Falkland Islands,
Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
A Falkland stamp showing the British Royal Family
is vested in the
Queen and is exercised by the
Governor on her behalf. The Governor is also responsible for the administration of
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as these islands have no native inhabitants. Defence and Foreign Affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The current Governor is
Alan Huckle, appointed July 2006.
Under the
constitution, the latest version of which came into force in 1985, there is an
Executive Council and a
Legislative Council. The Executive Council, which advises the Governor, is also chaired by the Governor. It consists of the Chief Executive, Financial Secretary and three Legislative Councillors, who are elected by the other Legislative Councillors. The Legislative Council consists of the Chief Executive, Financial Secretary and the eight Legislative Councillors, of whom five are elected from Stanley and three from
Camp, for four-year terms. It is presided over by the Speaker, currently Darwin Lewis Clifton.
The loss of the war against the United Kingdom over control of the islands led to the collapse of the Argentine
military dictatorship in 1983. Disputes over control of the islands continue. In 1992 Argentina and Britain resumed deplomatic relations and reopened their embassies in each other's countries. In 1998, in retaliation to former chilean president Augusto
Pinochet's arrest in London, the
Chilean government banned flights between
Punta Arenas and
Port Stanley, thus isolating the islands from the rest of the world.
Uruguay and
Brazil refused to authorise direct flights between their territories and Port Stanley, forcing the Islands' government to enter negotiations with the Argentine government which led to Argentina authorising direct flights between its territory and Stanley, on condition that Argentine citizens be allowed on the islands.
[22] In 2001, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair became the first Prime Minister to visit Argentina since the war. On the twenty-second anniversary of the war, Argentina's President
Néstor Kirchner gave a speech insisting that the islands would once again be part of Argentina. Kirchner,
campaigning for president in 2003, regarded the islands as a top priority. In June 2003 the issue was brought before a United Nations committee, and attempts have been made to open talks with the United Kingdom to resolve the issue of the islands. As far as the Falkland Islands Government and people are concerned, there is no issue to resolve. The Falkland Islanders themselves are almost entirely British and maintain their allegiance to the United Kingdom.
[23]
On
2 April 2007 (exactly 25 years after the Argentine invasion), Argentina renewed its claim over the Falkland Islands, asking for the UK to resume talks on sovereignty.
Falkland Islanders were granted full British citizenship from
1 January 1983 under the
British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983.
Geography
Map of the Falkland Islands.
The Falkland Islands comprise two main islands,
East Falkland and
West Falkland (in Spanish Isla Gran Malvina and Isla Soledad respectively), and about 776 small islands.
The total land area is 4,700
square miles (12,173
km²), approximately the same area as
Connecticut or
Northern Ireland, with a
coastline estimated at 800 miles (1,288 km).
Much of the land is part of the two main islands separated by the
Falkland Sound:
East Falkland, home to the capital of
Stanley and the majority of the population, and
West Falkland. Both islands have
mountain ranges, rising to 2,313
feet (705
m) at
Mount Usborne on East Falkland. There are also some
boggy
plains, most notably
Lafonia, on the southern half of East Falkland. Virtually the entire area of the islands is used as
pasture for
sheep.
Smaller islands surround the main two. They include
Barren Island,
Beaver Island,
Bleaker Island,
Carcass Island,
George Island,
Keppel Island,
Lively Island,
New Island,
Pebble Island,
Saunders Island,
Sealion Island,
Speedwell Island,
Staats Island,
Weddell Island, and
West Point Island. The
Jason Islands lie to the north west of the main archipelago, and
Beauchene Island some distance to its south. Speedwell Island and George Island are split from East Falkland by
Eagle Passage.
The islands claim a territorial sea of 12
nautical miles (22 km) and an
exclusive fishing zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km), which has been a source of disagreement with Argentina.
Surrounded by cool
South Atlantic waters, the Falkland Islands have a cold
maritime climate with a narrow temperature range of about 19
°C (66
°F) in summer and 2°C (36°F) in winter. Rainfall is relatively low at about 24 inches.
Humidity and winds, however, are constantly high. Snow is rare, but can occur at almost any time of year.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of the Falkland Islands
Sheep farming (as of 2002, there were 583,000 sheep on the island
[24]) was formerly the main source of income for the islands, and still plays an important part with high quality wool exports going to the UK, but efforts to diversify introduced in 1984 have made
fishing the largest part of the economy and brought increasing income from
tourism.
The government sale of fishing licences to foreign countries has brought in more than
£40 million a year in revenues, and local fishing boats are also in operation. More than 75% of the fish taken are
squid, and most exports are to
Spain. Tourism has shown rapid growth, with more than 30,000 visitors in 2001. The islands have become a regular port of call for the growing market of
cruise ships. Attractions include the scenery and wildlife conservation with
penguins, seabirds,
seals and
sealions, as well as visits to battlefields,
golf, fishing and
wreck diving.
An agreement with Argentina has set the terms for exploitation of offshore resources including large
oil reserves, but climatic conditions of the southern seas mean that exploitation will be a difficult task, though economically viable, and the continuing sovereignty dispute with Argentina is hampering progress. Defence is provided by the UK, and British military expenditures make a significant contribution to the economy. The islands are self sufficient except for defence; exports account for more than £125 million a year.
The largest company in the islands used to be the
Falkland Islands Company (FIC), a publicly quoted company on the
London Stock Exchange which was responsible for the majority of the economic activity on the islands, though its farms were sold in 1991 to the Falkland Islands Government. The FIC now operates several retail outlets in Stanley and is involved in port services and shipping operation.
The currency in use is the
Falkland Pound, which remains in parity with the
pound sterling. Sterling notes and coins circulate interchangeably with the local currency. The Falkland Islands also
mint their own coins, and
issue stamps, which forms a source of revenue from overseas collectors.
Demographics
The population is 2,967 (July 2003 estimate), the majority of which are of British descent (approximately 70%). The native-born inhabitants call themselves "Islanders". Outsiders often call Islanders "Kelpers", from the
kelp which grows profusely around the islands, but the name is no longer used in the Islands. Those people from the United Kingdom who have obtained Falkland Island status became what are known locally as 'belongers'. Many islanders are of
Scottish and
Welsh descent.
[25] However, a few Islanders are of
French,
Gibraltar (such as the Pitalaugas),
Portuguese and
Scandinavian descent. Some are the descendants of
whalers who reached the Islands during the last two centuries. Furthermore there is a small minority of South American, mainly
Chilean origin, and in more recent times many people from
Saint Helena have also come to work in the Islands. The Falkland Islands have been a centre of English language learning for South Americans.
The main religion is
Christianity. The main denominations are
Church of England,
Roman Catholic,
United Free Church, and
Lutheran-based denominations. Other smaller numbers of Christian churches are active, including
Jehovah's Witnesses,
Seventh-day Adventist and
Greek Orthodox; with the latter being due to Greek fishermen passing through.
There is also a tiny
Bahai presence
[5].
Medical care
The Falkland Islands Government Health and Social Services Department provides medical care for the islands. The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) is Stanley's only hospital. It was partially military operated in the past but is now under complete civilian control.
[26] There are no
ophthalmologists or
opticians on the islands, although an optician from the United Kingdom visits about every six months and an ophthalmologist comes to do
cataract surgery and eye exams on irregular intervals (once every few years). There are two
dentists on the islands.
Broadcasting and telecommunications
Broadcasting
★
PAL television, using the UK VHF and UHF allocations is standard.
★ FM stereo broadcasting using the UK allocation is standard.
★ MW broadcasting using 10 kHz steps (standard in
ITU Zone I).
Telephone
The Falkland Islands has a modern telecommunications network providing fixed line telephone and DSL and
dial-up internet services in Stanley.
Telephony is provided to outlying settlements using
microwave radio.
A
GSM mobile network was installed in 2005 which provided coverage of Stanley, Mount Pleasant and surrounding areas.
Transport
The Falkland Islands has two airports with paved runways.
RAF Mount Pleasant, thirty miles west of Stanley, acts as the main international airport, with flights operated by the
Royal Air Force to
RAF Brize Norton in
Oxfordshire,
England via a refueling stop at
RAF Ascension Island. RAF flights are on
TriStars although it is common for charter aircraft to be used if the TriStars are required for operational flights. At present (December 2006) the RAF air link is operated by
Air Atlanta Icelandic, using
747s. Weekly flights are also available to/from
Santiago, Chile, operated by
LAN.
Port Stanley Airport is a smaller airport outside the city, and is used for internal flights. Most settlements have grass air strips which are served by
Islander aircraft of the
Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS). The internal flight schedule is decided a day in advance according to passenger needs and an announcement made on the radio detailing arrival and departure times the night before. The
British International (BRINTEL) company also operate two
Sikorsky S61N helicopters for passenger flights between the islands. The
British Antarctic Survey operates a transcontinental air link between the Falkland Islands and the
Rothera base airfield, servicing also other British bases in the
British Antarctic Territory using a
de Havilland Canada Dash 7.
The road network has been improved in recent years. However, not too many paved roads exist outside Stanley and the RAF base.
Landmines and ordnance
Approximately twenty five thousand
land mines remaining from the 1982 war are securely and clearly fenced off. Free maps are available from the EOD (
Explosive Ordnance Disposal) office in Stanley. Care should still be taken as some beaches were mined, and there have been concerns the tides could have moved some mines. The same applies where mine fields are close to rivers. Care should be taken in case mines have been washed out of the marked area by flooding. There is also
ordnance left over from the war, although finds of this type are becoming rarer with the passage of time.
In February 2005, the charity Landmine Action proposed a
Kyoto-style credit scheme, which would see a commitment by the British government to clear an equivalent area of mined land to that currently existing in the Falklands in more seriously mine-affected countries by March 2009. This proposal was supported by Falkland Islanders, for whom landmines do not pose a serious threat in everyday life, but the British government is yet to declare its support or opposition to the idea.
See also
Penguins at Gypsy Cove.
External links
★
★
★
Falkland Islands Government official site
★
Falkland Islands Tourism official site
★
Falkland Islands Development Corporation official site
★
Falkland Islands News Network official site
★
Falkland Islands Information Portal
★
Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands by Samuel Johnson 1771
References
★ L.L. Ivanov et al, ''The Future of the Falkland Islands and Its People'', Double T Publishers, Sofia, 2003, 96 pp. (
Complete text) ISBN 954-91503-1-3
★ Carlos Escudé and Andrés Cisneros, eds., ''Historia de las Relaciones Exteriores Argentinas'', Work developed and published under the auspices of the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI), GEL/Nuevohacer (Buenos Aires), 2000.
(
Complete text in Spanish) ISBN 950-694-546-2
1. WordReference, English-Spanish Dictionary. ''Falklands: the Falklands, las (islas) Malvinas''.
2. The Islands: Location
3. Argentine official claim — Origin of the sovereignty dispute (Spanish and English)
4. ''de acuerdo al Derecho Positivo de la Argentina son Ciudadanos de la Nación Argentina por el solo hecho de nacer en su territorio, siguiendo el principio de Ius soli''
5.
Country Profile: Falkland Islands
6. AGREEMENT OF 14th JULY 1999
7. PSYOP of the Falkland Islands War
8. A brief history of the Falkland Islands Part 2 - Fort St. Louis and Port Egmont., Accessed 2007-09-08
9. [1] A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS: Part 2 - Fort St. Louis and Port Egmont
10. [2] FALKLAND ISLANDS TIMELINE: A Chronology of events in the history of the Falkland Islands
11. The Malvinas, the South Georgias and the South Sandwich Islands, the conflict with Britain, , Laurio H., Destéfani, , ,
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Apcbg/Darwin-1834 Extracts from the Diary of Charles Darwin
13. Darwin's Beagle Diary (1831-1836)
14. Ocupación británica: Port Stanley (Puerto Argentino)
15. [3]
16. Commemorative Stamps of first flights
17.
18. Guide to the conflict
19. Secret Falklands fleet revealed
20. 1976 Falklands invasion warning Dominic Casciani
21. HistoryCentral. United Nations Resolution 502, ''Adopted by the Security Council at its 2350th meeting held on 3 April 1982.''
22. [4] AGREEMENT OF 14th JULY 1999
23. Falkland Islands Government Overview.
24. http://www.falklands-meat.com/statement.htm
25. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 149, No. 1, pp 16-17, , Patrick, Vincent, , ,
26. http://www.falklands.gov.fk/4b.htm
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