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King Edward Point
King Edward Point
Location of King Edward Point and Grytviken in South Georgia
Coordinates: 54°17′00″S 36°29′42″W / 54.283333°S 36.495°W / -54.283333; -36.495
Country	United Kingdom
Territory	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Operator	British Antarctic Survey
Established	1950 (1950)
Population
• Summer	22
• Winter	12
Time zone	UTC−2 (GST)
UN/LOCODE	GS
Active times	All year-round
Status	Operational
Activities	Support sustainable fishing

King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumberland East Bay on the northeastern coast of the island. The settlement is the second smallest capital in the world by population, after Ngerulmud in Palau.

History

The area was explored by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–04 under Otto Nordenskiöld. It was named around 1906 after King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Since 1909, King Edward Point has been the residence of a British Magistrate administering the island. In 1925, the government of the United Kingdom established Discovery House, a marine laboratory for Discovery Investigations.

Research station

On 1 January 1950, the station ownership was assumed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. The station was manned from 1 January 1952 to 13 November 1969. The British Antarctic Survey provided the British presence at the station until 1982.

At the beginning of the Falklands War on 3 April 1982, Argentine forces occupied South Georgia and closed the station. They were soon expelled during Operation Paraquet later the same month and British military forces retook the point. A series of civilian Marine Officers was appointed to carry out customs and fisheries duties for the South Georgia Government from 1991, and were billeted with the small garrison.

On 22 March 2001, the British Antarctic Survey reopened the station on behalf of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI). Most of the old, dilapidated (and arguably historic) buildings were destroyed to make way for new ones, with the exception of Discovery House (1925) and the Gaol (1912).

Currently twelve BAS personnel overwinter at the station, rising to around 22 in summer. Two Government Officers plus partners are stationed on KEP, overlapping by about three months during the busy winter fishing season. Summer staff from the Museum at Grytviken are also accommodated at KEP.

The continued occupation of the station serves a political purpose as well: it helps to maintain British sovereignty against Argentina's claim for ownership of the territory.

The chief activities of the station are applied fisheries research on behalf of the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, to assist its policies for sustainable management of the commercial fishery, and to provide logistic support for the Government Officer(s).

Climate

King Edward Point and Grytviken have a tundra climate (Köppen ET) with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. The highest temperature ever recorded at Grytviken/King Edward Point was 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) on 10 March 1922.

See also

• List of Antarctic research stations
• List of Antarctic field camps

References

1. "Local laws and customs - South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (British Overseas Territory) travel advice - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
2. "Google Maps". 54°17'00.0"S 36°29'39.0"W. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
3. Remarkable Temperatures in the Argentine and South Georgia. Meteorological Magazine. 57 (6): 138. June 1922.
4. "SYNOP/BUFR observations. Data by months". Meteomanz. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
5. ^ "Temp/Rain 1901–1950" (PDF). Globalbioclimatics. April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
6. ^ Cappelen, John; Jensen, Jens. "South Georgia–Grytviken" (PDF). Climate Data for Selected Stations (1931–1960) (in Danish). Danish Meteorological Institute. p. 242. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
7. "Weather extremes for Grytviken". Météo Climat. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

External links

• King Edward Point
• British Antarctic Survey Research Station King Edward Point, South Georgia

v t e  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Capital: King Edward Point
General	Coat of arms Commissioner Flag Foreign relations History Languages List of South Georgians Operation "Paraquet" Public holidays Toothfish Day South Georgia Museum .gs Sovereignty Invasion of South Georgia
Settlements / Whaling stations	Bird Island Grytviken Godthul Husvik King Edward Point Leith Harbour Ocean Harbour Prince Olav Harbour Stromness Corbeta Uruguay base
South Georgia islands	Annenkov Island Bird Island Black Rock Black Rocks Clerke Rocks Cooper Island Grass Island Grassholm Kupriyanov Islands Pickersgill Islands Prion Island Saddle Island Shag Rocks South Georgia Island Welcome Islands Willis Islands
South Sandwich Islands	Bristol Montagu Saunders Candlemas Islands Candlemas Vindication Traversay Islands Leskov Visokoi Zavodovski Southern Thule Bellingshausen Cook Thule
Seamounts	Protector Shoal Kemp Caldera
Landmarks	Admiralty Peak Allardyce Range Barff Peninsula Fortuna Glacier Gold Harbour Larsen Harbour Mount Baume Mount Belinda Mount Cunningham Mount Paget Mount Roots Orca Peak Peggotty Bluff Salisbury Plain Salvesen Range Southern Thule Thatcher Peninsula Bay of Isles Stromness Bay Cumberland Bay Possession Bay Busen Point

v t e Capital cities of British administrative divisions
Capital of the United Kingdom: London
Constituent countries Crown Dependencies British Overseas Territories London, England Edinburgh, Scotland Cardiff, Wales Belfast, Northern Ireland St Helier, Jersey Saint Peter Port, Guernsey Douglas, Isle of Man Episkopi Cantonment, Akrotiri and Dhekelia The Valley, Anguilla Hamilton, Bermuda Rothera, British Antarctic Territory Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory Road Town, British Virgin Islands George Town, Cayman Islands Stanley, Falkland Islands Gibraltar, Gibraltar Brades, Montserrat Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands Jamestown, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha King Edward Point, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands

• Headlands of South Georgia
• Falklands War in South Georgia
• Capitals of British Overseas Territories
• Research stations
• Capitals in South America
• South Georgia
• Edward VII
• 1950 establishments
• Populated places established in 1950