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The Falkland Islands

Flag of the Falkland Islands Falkland Islands coat of arms (In Detail) (In Detail)
Motto: Desire the right
Official language	English
Capital	Port Stanley
Governor	Howard Pearce
Chief Executive	Chris Simpkins
Area  - Total  - % water	not ranked 12,173 km² -
Population  - Total (2003 E)  - Density	not ranked 2,967 0.24/km²
Currency	Falkland pound (FKP; fixed to GBP)
Time zone	UTC -4 (DST -3)
National anthem	God Save the Queen
Internet TLD	.fk
Calling code	500

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic continental shelf consisting of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, and a number of smaller islands. They are administered as a largely self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom (UK) from Port Stanley, also known as Stanley, the capital and largest city, on East Falkland.

Argentina also claims the islands, calling them by their Spanish name, Islas Malvinas (similarly calling the capital Puerto Argentino), and considers them part of the Tierra del Fuego Province. The islands appear on every Argentine map, in Argentine weather forecasts, and even some tour guides to Argentina.

Argentina launched an attack in 1982 and successfully occupied the islands. Under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the British sent a fleet and, in June, removed the Argentine army and navy from the islands and their vicinity. This conflict is called the Falklands War in English, and 14 June is Liberation Day on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Almost every city in Argentina has a memorial to the fallen of the war and a street named Malvinas Argentinas. At many of the entrance points to the country and to some of the provinces there are roadside signs proclaiming Las Malvinas son Argentinas ("The Malvinas are Argentine"). 2 April is Día de los caídos en Malvinas ("Day of the fallen in the Malvinas"), a national holiday in Argentina.

The Argentines still accuse the British of colonialism and emphasise decolonisation. The British emphasise the right of the islanders, who consider themselves to be British, to self-determination. Although still a touchy diplomatic issue, relations between the two countries have improved in recent years.

History

Main article: History of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands were uninhabited when they were first discovered by European explorers. Disputed evidence exists of prior settlement by humans based on the existence of the Falkland Island fox, or Warrah on the islands. It is thought this fox was brought to the island by humans, although it may have reached the islands itself via a land bridge during the last ice age.

The first European explorer credited with sighting the islands is Sebald de Weert, a Dutch sailor in 1600. Although several English and Spanish historians maintain their own explorers discovered the islands earlier. Some older maps, particularly Dutch ones, used the name 'Sebald Islands' after the first credited explorer. A British sailor between the two principal islands in 1690, 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, and who later became First Lord of the Admiralty. From this body of water the island group later took its collective name.

The first settlement on the Falkland Islands was by France in 1763. The French colony was at Port Louis on Berkely Sound. The French name Îles Malouines was given to the islands — malouin being the adjective for the Breton port of Saint-Malo. The Spanish name Malvinas is derived from the French adjective.

The United Kingdom first established a colony on the islands in 1765 unaware of the French colony in existence. After confrontation with Spain over sovereignty, an agreement was reached which yielded the islands to the UK. The French colony was ceded to Spain and abandoned previously, and the British abandoned their own colony in 1774, leaving a plaque behind to assert their continuing sovereignty.

The first Argentine claim to islands was in 1820, following independence from Spain in 1817. A settlement and penal colony was established by the Argentines on the islands in 1820. The settlements were later destroyed by the United States following a dispute over fishing rights. The United Kingdom invaded the islands in 1833, and expelled the remainder of the Argentine settlement, and began to populate the island with its own citizens.

The Royal Navy built a base at Port Stanley, and the islands became a strategic point for navigation around Cape Horn. The 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, Port Stanley served as a Royal Navy station and serviced ships who 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 never renounced its claim to the islands, used the newly formed United Nations as an avenue for pursuing its claims, and talks between the British and Argentine foreign missions took place in the 1960s. However the talks never came to any meaningful conclusion, and a major sticking point in any negotiations was the 2,000 inhabitants of mainly British descent who preferred to remain a British colony.

On April 30 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and other British territories in the South Atlantic (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands), encouraged in part by the United Kingdom's reduction in military capacity in the South Atlantic, and as a diversion from poor economic performance at home. World reaction to the invasion ranged from support in the Latin American countries, to opposition in Europe, the Commonwealth, and eventually the United States. The British sent a large expedition force to retake the islands leading to the Falklands War. After a short but fierce naval and air war, the British landed at San Carlos Water on May 21 and a land war followed until the Argentinean forces surrendered on June 14.

Following the war, the British increased their military presence on the islands, constructing RAF Mount Pleasant and increasing the military garrison. Falkland Islanders were also granted full British citizenship. Although the UK and Argentina since resumed diplomatic relations in 1989, no further negotiations on sovereignty have taken place.

Politics

Executive authority comes from the Queen and is exercised by the Governor on her behalf. Defence is the responsibility of the UK.

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 Mr L.G. Blake.

The loss of the war against Britain over control of the islands led to the collapse of the Argentine military dictatorship in 1983. Disputes over control of the islands continue. In 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair became the first to visit Argentina since the war. On the 22nd 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 a top priority. In June 2003 the issue was brought before a United Nations committee, and attempts have been made to open talks with Britain 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.

Falkland Islanders were granted full British citizenship from 1 January 1983 under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983.

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Falkland Islands

The islands are 300 miles (483 km) from the South American mainland. There are two main islands, East Falkland (Soledad in Spanish) and West Falkland (Gran Malvina) and about 700 small islands. The total land area is 12,173 km².

Islanders themselves talk about two main areas of the islands, namely Stanley and the rest, which they nickname "the Camp", from the Spanish campo ("countryside").

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Falkland Islands

The largest industries are fishing and agriculture. The islands have oil reserves that are believed to be quite substantial, but have yet to be exploited. The climatic conditions of the southern seas mean that the economic viability of any exploitation is poor.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Falkland Islands

The population is 2,967 (July 2003 estimate).

Islanders call themselves "Islanders". Outsiders often call Islanders "Kelpers", from the kelp which grows profusely around the islands, but the name is not used in the Islands any more. The word kelper is used in Argentina with the meaning of second-class citizens as a reflection on the legal status of the islanders within the UK prior to the passing of the Nationality Act of 1983.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the Falkland Islands

Argentine claim

Argentina considers that the islands were a Spanish territory and that they passed to Argentine sovereignty when Argentina became independent in 1816 (a principle known as uti possedetis). They maintain that the islands were first discovered by Magallanes, that the Spanish bought out the French settlement and that Britain had abandoned her settlement (in 1774). The Spanish also maintained that while they allowed a British settlement on the islands, they did not concede sovereignty to the British. Further, they consider that Britain ceded its rights over the islands at the Nootka Sound Convention in 1790. When Argentina established a settlement on the islands in 1820, they were uninhabited. Thus they consider the British invasion of 1833 to have been in breach of international law. On June 17, 1833, Manuel Moreno, the Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom, delivered a formal complaint. From that moment onwards, Argentina has always contested what they regard as the British occupation of the islands.

Another argument advanced by the Argentine governments is the fact that the islands are located on the continental shelf facing Argentina, which would give them a claim, as stated in the 1958 UN Convention on the Continental Shelf. The islands are included in the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories as territories to be considered for decolonisation.

Finally, the Argentine government states that the fact that the current population of the islands is purely British is not a valid argument for British possession of the islands, as it is a result of the British occupation of 1833, which Argentina considers to have been illegal, and in which the Argentine population was expelled by force.

In Argentina it is considered that in 1982 Argentine forces retomaron ("retook") the islands, while in the UK the word "invaded" is normally used. One of the reasons that the name Falkland Islands is rejected by Argentina is that it reflects British colonialism.

British claim

Britain claims that according to treaties signed with Spain, all land not under 'effective control' was open to colonisation even if it was within the territory allocated to Spain under the treaty of Tordesillas (an agreement made by the Catholic church between Spain and Portugal, but not recognised by any other nation).

Britain claims that the Spanish ceded sovereignty over the areas settled by the British and that Britain did not relinquish sovereignty when Port Egmont was abandoned in 1774. Furthermore Britain states that Argentina's claimed inheritance under the principle of uti possedetis is not accepted as a general principle of international law. Thus the British claim that the 1820 Argentine settlement was on British territory. Britain sees the events of 1833 as a legitimate retaking of the islands and the 1982 military efforts by Argentina as an invasion.

Britain also cites the right of the islanders to self-determination and the continuous settlement since 1833—some families have been on the islands for more than five generations—as justification for continuing British sovereignty.

One of the reasons that the name Malvinas is rejected by the British is that it reflects Argentine claims.

See also

• Communications in the Falkland Islands
• Military of the Falkland Islands
• Stamps and postal history of the Falkland Islands
• Transport in the Falkland Islands
• Battle of the Falkland Islands - naval engagement of the First World War
• British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983
• Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey
• Falklands War - conflict between Argentina and United Kingdom
• List of settlements in the Falkland Islands
• Major Samuel Stransham

Reference

• "Non-Self-Governing Territories listed by General Assembly in 2002". United Nations Special Committee of 24 on Decolonisation. March 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

External links

• Template:Wikitravel
• Falkland Islands Government's official website, including a detailed map
• Battles of the Falkland Islands War 1982 at Naval History Net
• Official Falkland Islands portal by the Falkland Islands Development Corporation
• BBC News: Country profiles: Falkland Islands
• Falkland Islands News Network, privately maintained
• Falkland Islands Tourism, from a company by that name
• BBC Weather for Port Stanley
• The Mad-Sheep Falkland Islands Pages
• Malvinas History (Spanish)

Template:South America

• Current British colonies
• Disputed territories
• Falkland Islands
• Archipelagoes
• Special territories of the EU