Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 smaller islands. The population consists primarily of native-born Falkland Islanders, the majority of British descent. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance and the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs.

About Falkland Islands in brief

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 smaller islands. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, and the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. Major economic activities include fishing, tourism and sheep farming, with an emphasis on high-quality wool exports. Oil exploration remains controversial as a result of maritime disputes with Argentina. The population consists primarily of native-born Falkland Islanders, the majority of British descent. In Spanish, the territory was designated as Islas Malvinas. The nomenclature used by the United Nations for statistical processing purposes is Falklands Islands. Although the islands were uninhabited when Europeans discovered them in prehistoric times, the first claims of discovery date back to the 16th century, but no consensus on whether early explorers discovered the islands or other other islands in South Atlantic. The first recorded landing on the islands is attributed to English captain John Strong, en route to Peru and Chile’s littoral in 1690, who discovered the Falkland Sound and noted the islands’ water and game. The name \”Falkland Islands\” comes from Falkland sound, the strait that separates the two main islands. The predominant language is English. Under the British Nationality Act 1983, Falklands Islanders are British citizens. The islands lie on the boundary of the subantarctic oceanic and tundra climate zones, and both major islands have mountain ranges reaching 2,300 feet.

They are home to large bird populations, although many no longer breed on the main islands because of competition from introduced species. Almost all Falklanders favour the archipelagos remaining a UK overseas territory. Its sovereignty status is part of an ongoing dispute between Argentina and the U.K., and Argentina maintains its claim to the islands. In April 1982, Argentine military forces invaded the islands, and British administration was restored two months later at the end of the Falk Islands War. The Falklands remained uninhabitable until the establishment of Port Louis on East Falklands by French captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville by 1764. At the twentieth session of the U Nations General Assembly, the Fourth Committee determined that, in all languages other than Spanish, all UN documentation would designate the territory as Falkland Island. In Spanish,. the territory is designated as Islas Malvinas by the UN for statistical processing purposes. The name Falklands is a standard abbreviation used to refer to the archipelago, and is used in most official documents. The term Falkland is used for the islands by the British government and the British Foreign Office to describe the British Overseas Territories (BOT). The British BOT also uses the term Falklands for the British Falklands, which is a UK Overseas Territory (GBOT) for the UK Falklands.

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