Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago, or group of islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the southern tip of South America. Although the islands are situated geographically within Argentina's Patagonia region, the Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory, meaning they are internally self-governing but the United Kingdom is responsible for defense and foreign affairs. Residents of the island are known as Falkland Islanders, and a majority are of British, primarily Scottish and Welsh, descent. Under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, residents of the Falklands have full British citizenship.

Sovereignty of the islands has been in dispute since the early nineteenth century. Argentina attempted to reclaim the Falklands from the British during the Falklands War in 1982. Although Argentina no longer seeks to take the islands by force, it has renewed calls for the British to cede control of the islands. The Falkland Islands held a referendum on the issue in March 2013, and 99.8 percent of voters supported staying with the United Kingdom.

General Information

• Region: South America
• Nationality: Falkland Islander(s) (noun), Falkland Island (adjective)
• Official language: English
• Population: 3,662 (2021 est.)
• Population growth: 0.01% (2014 est.)
• Currency (money): Falkland Island pound
• Land area: 12,173 sq km (4,700 sq miles)
• Time zone: UTC –4
• Capital: Stanley
• Flag: The flag of the Falkland Islands is blue and features an imprint of the United Kingdom’s Union Jack in its canton. Printed in the flag’s right hand field is the Falkland Islands’ coat of arms, which features a sheep, a ship, and the island’s motto: "Desire the right."
• Motto: "Desire the Right"
• Independence: Overseas territory of the UK (also claimed by Argentina)
• Government type: Parliamentary dependency
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal system: English common law and local statutes
• National anthem: "Song of the Falklands," by Christopher Lanham
• National holiday: Liberation Day, June 14 (1982)

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: The small population of the Falkland Islands is approximately 48.3 percent Falkland Islander, 23.1 percent British, 7.5 percent St. Helenian, 4.6 percent Chilean, and 16.5 percent mixed, other, or unspecified (2016 estimates). Falkland Islanders, also referred to as Falklanders, are primarily English speakers (89 percent), although 7.7 percent speak Spanish and 3.3 percent speak another language (2006 estimates).

Falkland Islanders primarily inhabit East Falkland and West Falkland, the two largest islands. There are roughly two hundred smaller islands, most of which are uninhabited. About two thousand people live in Stanley (also known as Port Stanley), the small capital located on the eastern coast of East Falkland (2018 estimate). Like many towns on the islands, Stanley is a seaport.

All areas outside the town of Stanley are collectively referred to as "Camp." Whether living in Stanley or Camp, many families are self-sufficient and live on farms. Other major towns include Port Howard, Goose Green, and Weddell.

The British-controlled islands do not have good foreign relations with Argentina, their closest neighbor. The Argentine government considers the Falkland Islands, which they call the Islas Malvinas, to be property of Argentina. In 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands, prompting the United Kingdom to respond with military force and resulting in the Falklands Islands War, in which the British ultimately forced Argentina to surrender. The dispute lasted several months and has continued to affect the government, economy, and culture of the Falkland Islands. Relations between the two nations have since improved, although Argentina has renewed calls for the islands to be returned to its control, and the Falkland Islands are now open to Argentine visitors.

An estimated 57.1 percent of Falkland Islanders practiced Christianity as of 2016. The Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches are the most common denominations, and there are several churches located in Stanley. Another 35.4 percent professed no religion, and 7.6 percent were other or unspecified.

The Falkland Islands' 2021 census counted a population of 3,662, which does not include a group of roughly two thousand British military personnel and Ministry of Defense (MOD) civil servants who have been garrisoned on East Falkland since 1982. These personnel, based at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Mount Pleasant station, are casually referred to as "squaddies."

Indigenous People: The Falkland Islands were uninhabited by humans before being settled by the French in 1763. Although the islands have since been occupied by various ethnic groups from Europe and South America, the native population is essentially the same group living on the islands today.

The British, Spanish, and Dutch all claim to have discovered the Falkland Islands first, sometime during the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. The islands take their English name from the official who authorized Britain's 1690 expedition to the islands.

Education: Children on the Falkland Islands are required to attend free, government-run schools from age six to fifteen. Most students attend public school in Stanley. Students who live in Camp often receive their lessons remotely. Teachers make occasional trips to the Camp settlements to provide private tutoring for students. Most students continue their education at a secondary school in Stanley.

Health Care: Falkland Islanders benefit from their healthy environment and locally grown foods. Residents are provided with government-funded health care. Pensions are provided by the government for retired citizens aged sixty-four and older. There are no serious health epidemics or diseases endemic to the islands. The islands' only hospital is located in Stanley. During the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, a combination of the Falkland Islands' remoteness , low population, and a number of enacted restrictions kept the number of cases to under two hundred within the first two years of the pandemic.

One serious threat to the safety of Falkland Islanders is the presence of thousands of explosive landmines that remain from the Falkland Islands War. The landmines have been located and are marked with warning signs, which prevent most mine-related injuries.

Food: The cuisine of the Falkland Islands is primarily based on the abundance of fresh meat and produce available there. Dishes of mutton, beef, poultry, fish, and vegetables are common. Other foods, such as tree-grown fruits, are imported. Rum is a popular alcoholic beverage.

Falkland Islanders customarily drink coffee or tea accompanied by pastries or toast in a small morning meal called smoko. Families in Camp customarily invite visitors into their homes for smoko, and in turn, visitors to Camp are expected to bring gifts of food or rum.

Arts & Entertainment: The Falkland Islands do not have a culture or entertainment industry typical to most developed nations, and at one time there were no playhouses, movie theaters, art galleries, or venues for the performing arts. However, venues began opening up as the infrastructure of the island developed over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and there is now an artistic community of local performers, poets, and painters. Nature photography is one of the most popular art forms among Falkland Islanders.

The Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust, which specializes in the history and culture of the Falkland Islands, is located in Stanley.

Entertainment on the islands primarily consists of outdoor activities. Sports such as hiking, climbing, mountain biking, and sea kayaking are popular. Other popular sports on the Falkland Islands are animal-related, and include horse racing, bull riding, and sheepdog trials.

Holidays: Many public holidays observed in the Falkland Islands are related to the Falkland Islands War. The most significant public holiday is Liberation Day, which is celebrated on June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1982 when British forces ousted Argentine troops.

On January 10, Falkland Islanders observe Margaret Thatcher Day to commemorate British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who successfully retained British sovereignty over the islands during the Falklands War. The birthday of the King of England is observed on November 14 as a public holiday.

Environment and Geography

The environment of the Falkland Islands has not sustained any long-term damage from the 1982 war. Despite explosions, fires, and the continued presence of active landmines, the Falkland Islands War did not affect plant or animal life in any significant way.

Topography: The Falkland Islands are mountainous and covered with marshes and rocky terrain. An underwater plateau connects the islands to Argentina's mainland.

The two largest islands, East and West Falkland, have distinct topographical features. East Falkland consists of a southern lowland area of marshes and pastures, and a mountainous northern terrain known as Wickham Heights. Wickham Heights is the site of Mount Usborne, the highest point in the Falkland Islands at 705 meters (2,312 feet). The lowlands and the heights are separated by two large fjords running across East Falkland.

West Falkland features mountainous terrain, the Hornby Mountains, in its eastern area. This range includes the islands' second-highest peak, Mount Adam, which at 700 meters (2,297 feet) is barely shorter than Mount Usborne. The lowlands of West Falkland contain many of the islands' natural deposits of clay, sandstone, slate, and quartzite.

East and West Falkland are divided by a body of water known as the Falkland Sound. There are many natural inlets and harbors formed by the coastline, but there are no significant mainland lakes or rivers.

Natural Resources: The Falkland Islands does not have an abundance of natural resources. Fish, squid, wildlife, calcified seaweed, and sphagnum moss constitute the major natural resources.

There are small amounts of valuable minerals throughout East and West Falkland, including deposits of galena with a high silver content, and white sand which can be used for glassmaking. Fuel resources include peat and large offshore oil deposits.

Plants & Animals: The Falkland Islands are home to hundreds of thousands of sheep. Other forms of livestock, such as cattle, goats, and horses, are also raised in large numbers on the islands' farms.

There are many species of birds on the Falkland Islands, including geese, caracaras, cormorants, oystercatchers, snowy sheathbills, and several varieties of penguins. Common marine animals include elephant seals, sea lions, fur seals, orcas, and dolphins. In addition to a large population of squid, there are many species of fish in the waters surrounding the islands.

Plant life on the islands primarily consists of grass and wildflowers. There are almost no trees on the Falkland Islands, due to the extremely windy climate that prevents growth. Some trees have been imported to the island and planted in Stanley, and are surrounded by wind shields.

Climate: The South Atlantic climate of the Falkland Islands is cold, windy, and humid throughout the year. Average annual temperatures on the Falkland Islands are around 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter and 8 degrees Celsius (47 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer.

The Falkland Islands receive a large amount of precipitation. It rains lightly on about 250 days of the year, generating an annual average of sixty centimeters (twenty-four inches). It also snows on the islands throughout the entire year, with the exception of the summer months of January and February. Snow accumulation is very low, however.

Economy

The Falkland Islands are a considerably wealthy territory with low unemployment; the unemployment rate was just 1 percent in 2016. The Falklands War had a positive long-term effect on the economy. The estimated gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) in 2015 was US$206.4 million, or US$70,800 per capita. Workers are often recruited from the United Kingdom for jobs that cannot be filled by the islands' small workforce of roughly 1,850 people (2016 estimate).

Industry: There is a limited manufacturing sector in the Falkland Islands' economy. Wool products account for most of the processed and exported goods. The service sector is far more significant than manufacturing in the industrial sector. Most service jobs are in government, which is the largest employer on the islands. In the 2010s the development of offshore oil resources provided a boost to the islands' industrial sector.

Major exports are largely agricultural. Wool is the islands' most important exported commodity. Animal hides and meat are exported as well. Non-agricultural exports include aircraft parts. Imports include fuel, food, drink, building materials, and vehicles.

Agriculture: Historically, agriculture has been the largest sector of the Falkland Islands' economy; in 2018, approximately 92.4 percent of the land on the islands was devoted to permanent pasture, primarily for sheep farming. In 1987, however, the government began selling fishing licenses to foreign trawlers, and since then fishing has overtaken farming in terms of revenue. The coastline's many harbors allow for a healthy commercial fishing industry. Squid are common in the waters around the island and typically make up around 75 percent of the annual catch, most of which is exported to Spain. The United Kingdom referendum to leave the European Union in 2016, also known as Brexit, caused challenges to the fishing industry in the Falkland Islands as new tariffs were placed on exported goods.

An annual revenue of more than US$40 million is generated by the sale of fishing licenses to commercial fishing vessels. However, one of the major environmental concerns on the islands is the problem of overfishing by unlicensed boats.

Sheep and dairy products are vital agricultural commodities. The Falkland Islands also have the world's only commercial herd of reindeer unaffected by radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine. The government bought one hundred of the reindeer from South Georgia Island in 2001 with the goal of cultivating a herd large enough to export venison to Chile and Scandinavia.

Tourism: Tourism is an important sector of the Falkland Islands' economy. The country benefits greatly from ecotourism, as wildlife is the islands' biggest tourist attraction. Stanley has few hotels, restaurants, or bars. Tourism surged during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; however, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the industry to falter, severely affecting the numbers of visitors who traveled internationally, especially to such farflung locations as the Falkland Islands.

One notable tourist attraction is Darwin Cemetery. The memorial burial grounds are located at Goose Green, where a significant battle in the Falklands War was fought. The remains of a downed Argentine aircraft are located at this site as well.

Until 1999, tourism was inhibited by the fact the Falkland Islands were closed to air traffic from Argentina. From 1982 to 1999, the only Argentine citizens allowed into the Falkland Islands were those visiting the graves of relatives buried at Goose Green.

Government

The ownership of the Falkland Islands was in dispute for centuries before the war in 1982. The islands have been claimed by a number of other nations, including France and Spain, and have been officially under British sovereignty since 1833. The previous constitution of the Falkland Islands was written in 1985. A new constitution went into effect on January 1, 2009.

Despite being a British territory, the Falkland Islands are self-governing. The islands are governed by English common law, and the observed chief of state is the monarch of Great Britain, but there is a governmental structure specific to the Falkland Islands. The local government is headed by the chief executive, appointed by the governor, who is in turn appointed by the British monarch.

The Falkland Islands have a unicameral legislature, the ten-member Legislative Assembly. Voters elect eight of the ten members of the Legislative Assembly. The remaining two members are the chief executive and the financial secretary, both of whom are appointed by the governor.

The judicial branch of the government consists, at the highest level, of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal refers appeals beyond its jurisdiction to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Interesting Facts

• Although the islands were charted by British explorer John Davis in 1592, the British did not land on the islands until John Strong visited them in 1690.
• The Argentine name for the islands, Islas Malvinas, is derived from the name given to the region by French explorers from Saint-Malo, France.
• The Falkland Islands Department of Agriculture estimates that there are 500,000 sheep on the Falkland Islands, meaning that there is a ratio of nearly 160 sheep per person on the islands.

Bibliography

"Falkland Islands." Observatory of Economic Complexity, oec.world/en/profile/country/flk. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Falkland Islands Government, www.falklands.gov.fk/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

"Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 25 Sept. 2023, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/falkland-islands-islas-malvinas/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

"Falkland Islands Profile." BBC News, 7 Sept. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18425572. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.