Were there inhabitants on the Falkland Islands when they were discovered?
Falkland Islands
Although Fuegians from Patagonia may have visited the Falkland Islands in prehistoric times, the islands were uninhabited when Europeans first discovered them. Claims of discovery date back to the 16th century, but no consensus exists on whether early explorers discovered the Falklands or other islands in the South Atlantic. The first recorded landing on the islands is attributed to English captain John Strong, who, en route to Peru's and Chile's littoral in 1690, discovered the Falkland Sound and noted the islands' water and game.
History of the Falkland Islands
Also taken on board, Duncan reported, "were the whole of the (Falklands') population consisting of about forty persons, with the exception of some 'gauchos', or cowboys who were encamped in the interior." The group, principally German citizens from Buenos Aires, "appeared greatly rejoiced at the opportunity thus presented of removing with their families from a desolate region where the climate is always cold and cheerless and the soil extremely unproductive". However, about 24 people did remain on the island, mainly gauchos and several Charrúa Indians, who continued to trade on Vernet's account.
Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)
Argentina claims that the population of the islands was expelled in 1833; however, both British and Argentine sources from the time, including the log of the ARA "Sarandí", suggest that the colonists were encouraged to remain under Vernet's deputy, Matthew Brisbane.
History of the Falkland Islands
When the world sea level was lower in the Ice Age, the Falkland Islands may have been joined to the mainland of South America.
Politics of the Falkland Islands
The sovereignty of the Falklands remains in dispute, with Argentina claiming the islands are an integral and indivisible part of its territory, 'illegally occupied by an occupying power'. The United Kingdom and the Government of the Falkland Islands maintains that the Islanders have the right to determine the sovereignty of their birthplace. In a referendum in 2013 the people of the Falkland Islands soundly rejected Argentina's claim to the islands, with 99.8% of voters supporting the Falklands remaining an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.
Wildlife of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland islands are an archipelago located some off South America in the south Atlantic Ocean. Biogeographically, the Falkland Islands are classified as part of the Antarctic ecozone and Antarctic Floristic Kingdom. Strong connections exist with the flora and fauna of Patagonia in South America, especially to those in Tierra del Fuego. As the Falkland Islands were originally connected to the African rather than South American mainland, the connections with Patagonia suggest wildlife on the islands arrived through dispersal.
Self-determination
Self-determination is referred to in the Falkland Islands Constitution and is a factor in the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute. The population has existed for over nine generations, continuously for over 185 years. In the 2013 referendum organised by the Falkland Islands Government, 99.8% voted to remain British. As administering power, the British Government considers since the majority of inhabitants wish to remain British, transfer of sovereignty to Argentina would be counter to their right to self-determination.
Francis Tanfield
Sir Francis Tanfield (born 1565, date of death unknown) was Proprietary Governor of the South Falkland colony (in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) of Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland, his cousin's husband. Tanfield was to establish a colony at Renews and left England in 1623 with an unknown number of colonists. The settlers were harassed by migratory fishermen who used the harbour. He was the leader of the colony of "South Falkland" from 1623 to 1625. The colony was still in existence in 1626 when it was visited by Sir Richard Whitbourne but the settlers likely returned to England shortly afterwards. By 1630, Tanfield was back in England about to embark to Ireland on a mission for King Charles I.
East Falkland
In 1845 Samuel Fisher Lafone, a wealthy cattle and hide merchant from Montevideo, obtained a grant of the southern portion of the East Falkland from the British government. He purchased the peninsula, in extent, together with all the wild cattle on East Falkland, for a period of six years, for the sum of £10,000 down, and £20,000 in ten years from 1 January 1852. In 1851 the Falkland Islands Company, which had been incorporated by charter in the same year, paid £30,000 for Lafone's interest in Lafonia, as the peninsula came to be called. Lafone had never even visited the islands. The only remaining signs of this venture are the ruins at Hope Place and the stone corral at Darwin.
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
After their return in 1833, the British did not attempt to develop the islands as a colony. Initially, plans were based upon the settlers remaining in Port Louis, supported by the annual visit of a warship. Vernet's deputy, Matthew Brisbane, returned in March 1833 aboard the sealer "Rapid" during the visit of HMS "Beagle". He took charge of the settlement and was encouraged to further Vernet's business interests provided he did not seek to assert Argentine Government authority. Argentines have claimed that the population of Puerto Luis was expelled after the British return, but historical records shows that only four members of the settlement chose to leave.
History of the Falkland Islands
Although the first telephone lines were installed by the Falkland Islands Company in the 1880s, the Falkland Islands Government was slow to embrace telephony. It was not until 1897 that a telephone line was installed between Cape Pembroke lighthouse and the police station. The islands isolation was broken in 1911 when Guglielmo Marconi installed a wireless telegraphy station that enabled telegrams to be sent to mainland Uruguay.
History of the Falkland Islands
While Amerindians from Patagonia could have visited the Falklands,
History of Greenland
The first humans are thought to have arrived in Greenland around 2500 BC. Their descendants apparently died out and were succeeded by several other groups migrating from continental North America. There has been no evidence discovered that Greenland was known to Europeans until the 10th century, when Icelandic Vikings settled on its southwestern coast, which seems to have been uninhabited when they arrived. The ancestors of the Inuit Greenlanders who live there today appear to have migrated there later, around 1200 AD, from northwestern Greenland. While the Inuit survived in the icy world of the Little Ice Age, the early Norse settlements along the southwestern coast disappeared, leaving the Inuit as the only inhabitants of the island for several centuries. During this time, Denmark-Norway, apparently believing the Norse settlements had survived, continued to claim sovereignty over the island despite the lack of any contact between the Norse Greenlanders and their Scandinavian brethren. In 1721, aspiring to become a colonial power, Denmark-Norway sent a missionary expedition to Greenland with the stated aim of reinstating Christianity among descendants of the Norse Greenlanders who may have reverted to paganism. When the missionaries found no descendants of the Norse Greenlanders, they baptized the Inuit Greenlanders they found living there instead. Denmark-Norway then developed trading colonies along the coast and imposed a trade monopoly and other colonial privileges on the area.
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
The British first landed on the Falklands in 1690, when Captain John Strong sailed through Falkland Sound, naming this passage of water after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland, the First Lord of the Admiralty at that time. The British were keen to settle the islands as they had the potential to be a strategic naval base for passage around Cape Horn. In 1765, Captain John Byron landed on Saunders Island. He then explored the coasts of the other islands and claimed the archipelago for Britain. The following year, Captain John MacBride returned to Saunders Island and constructed a fort named Port Egmont. The British later discovered the French colony at Port Saint Louis (founded 1764), initiating the first sovereignty dispute.
Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)
In 1823, after its war of independence against Spain, the United Provinces granted land on East Falkland to Luis Vernet, who first travelled to the islands the following year. That first expedition failed almost as soon as it landed, and a second attempt, in 1826, sanctioned by the British (but delayed until winter by a Brazilian blockade), also failed after arrival in the islands. In 1828, the United Provinces government granted Vernet all of East Falkland, including all its resources, with exemption from taxation if a colony could be established within three years. He took settlers, some of them British, and before leaving once again sought permission first from the British Consulate in Buenos Aires. After receiving consent, Vernet agreed to provide regular reports to the British consul and expressed the desire for British protection for his settlement should they decide to re-establish their presence in the islands.
Monarchies in the Americas
The Falkland Islands, off the south coast of Argentina, were simultaneously claimed for Louis XV of France, in 1764, and George III of the United Kingdom, in 1765, though the French colony was ceded to Charles III of Spain in 1767. By 1833, however, the islands were under full British control. The South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands were discovered by Captain James Cook for George III in January 1775, and from 1843 were governed by the British Crown-in-Council through the Falkland Islands, an arrangement that stood until the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands were incorporated as a distinct British overseas territory in 1985. The monarch is represented in these regions by Nigel Phillips, who is both the Governor of the Falkland Islands and the Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Sebald de Weert
Although Sebald de Weert is usually credited with first sighting the Falklands in 1598, both the Spanish and British claim their own explorers discovered the islands earlier. See History of the Falkland Islands for further reading.
Origins of Falkland Islanders
A number of modern Falkland Islanders have some mainland South Americans among their 19th century ancestors, mostly Uruguayan gauchos who settled in the islands in connection with the development of the cattle and sheep farming industry that was to form the backbone of the Falklands economy for rather more than a century, until the offshore fisheries assumed that role in the 1980s. Eventually, gauchos took part in the colonization of the uninhabited West Falkland in the 1860s and 1870s, although by that time many of them were of European origins (Scottish, Gibraltarian etc.). There are some two dozen stone or turf-built corrals scattered around Camp — picturesque historical monuments of the 1840s-1870s, the epoch of pioneers who settled and developed the country outside Port Louis and Stanley.
Falkland Islands Dependencies
The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica from 1843 until 1985 which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Stanley.
Military of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands maintains its own part-time volunteer force, the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF), previously known as the Falkland Islands Volunteer Corps. Although this unit existed in 1982 as a reinforcement for the Governor's detachment of Royal Marines, it did not play any part in the main conflict during the war of 1982, its members having spent the duration of the hostilities under house arrest by the Argentines after their surrender on the Argentine capture of the islands. The FIDF is now a company-strength light infantry force with a permanent training Warrant Officer seconded from the Royal Marines. The FIDF operates in a number of roles and is fully integrated into the defence scheme for the islands. The FIDF has been trained by the Royal Navy to operate Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and to board vessels suspected of fishery poaching.
Origins of Falkland Islanders
The Falkland Islanders are British by citizenship, and by either origins or naturalization. They are one of the nations and mini-nations of the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories, including also the English, Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish, Channel Islanders, Gibraltarians, Saint Helenians, Bermudians, Caymanians etc. Along with their common British identity, each of these has its own distinct identity shaped in the respective particular circumstances of political, economic, social and cultural evolution history. According to Lewis Clifton, Speaker of the Falklands Legislative Council, the Falkland Islanders are no exception:
Faroe Islands
Archaeological evidence shows settlers living on the Faroe Islands in two successive periods prior to the arrival of the Norse, the first between 300 and 600 AD and the second between 600 and 800 AD. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen have also found early cereal pollen from domesticated plants, which further suggests people may have lived on the islands before the Vikings arrived. Archaeologist Mike Church noted that Dicuil (see below) mentioned what may have been the Faroes. He also suggested that the people living there might have been from Ireland, Scotland, or Scandinavia, possibly with groups from all three areas settling there.
Outline of the Falkland Islands
History of the Falkland Islands
Falklands Conservation
The origins of FC go back to 1979 when a group of naturalists, including Peter Scott, established a UK registered charity, the Falkland Islands Foundation (FIF), to protect the wildlife of the Falklands and its historic shipwrecks. In 1980 another body, the Falkland Islands Trust (FIT) was formed in the Islands. In 1982, following the Falklands War, FIF became a membership-based organisation. With the merger of FIT and FIF in 1991, it was formally launched on 1 August by David Attenborough as Falklands Conservation.
Geography of the Falkland Islands
A total of 14 species of marine mammals have been identified in the surrounding waters: elephant seal, fur seal and sea lions all breed on the islands with the largest elephant seal breeding site has over 500 animals. A total of 227 bird species have been seen on the islands, over 60 of which are known to breed on the islands. There are two endemic species and 14 endemic subspecies of bird. Five penguin species including the Magellanic penguin breed on the islands as do over 60% of the global black-browed albatross population.
There are no native reptiles or amphibians on the islands. Over 200 species of insects have been recorded, along with 43 spider species and 12 worm species. Only 13 terrestrial invertebrates are recognised as endemic, although information on many species is lacking and it is suspected up to two thirds of species found are actually endemic. Due to the island environment, many insect species have developed reduced or absent wings. There are around 129 freshwater invertebrates, the majority being rotifer; however, the identification of some species remains in dispute. Six species of fish are found in freshwater areas, including zebra trout and falklands minnows.
Jane Cameron National Archives
The Jane Cameron National Archives are the official national archives of the Falkland Islands. Government records in the Falklands were started by the first Governor of the Falkland Islands, Richard Moody, in 1841. The records were initially kept in Stanley Town Hall and the Secretariat Building and remained largely intact, despite fires in 1944 and 1959.
Occupation of the Falkland Islands
The occupation of the Falkland Islands and of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ( "Military Administration of the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands") was the short-lived Argentine administration of a group of islands in the South Atlantic whose sovereignty has long been disputed. Until their invasion on 2 April 1982 by the Argentine military junta, they had been governed by the United Kingdom since it re-established control over them in 1833.
History of the Falkland Islands
The history of the Falkland Islands () goes back at least five hundred years, with active exploration and colonisation only taking place in the 18th century. Nonetheless, the islands have been a matter of controversy, as they have been claimed by the French, British, Spaniards and Argentines at various points.
Geography of the Falkland Islands
East Falkland, which has an area of , a little over half the total area of the islands consists of two land masses of approximately equal size – the southerly part known as Lafonia, but the northerly part has no specific name. These land masses are joined by an isthmus of width that separates two deep fjords, Choiseul Sound and Brenton Loch-Grantham Sound from each other. The island's coastline has many smaller bays, inlets and headlands. Over 70% of the population of the Falkland Islands live in the capital, Stanley, which is located in East Falkland.
Camp (Falkland Islands)
The Camp contains various small settlements, such as Fox Bay, Goose Green, Darwin, and Port Howard, which are usually little more than several houses. Port Louis in the north of East Falkland is the oldest permanent settlement in the islands, established by the French in 1764. Port Egmont on Saunders Island, now abandoned, is the oldest British settlement. The majority of the Camp population lives on East Falkland, followed by West Falkland. Outlying islands such as Pebble, Sea Lion, West Point, Weddell and Carcass Island are inhabited as well. Camp is used in formal contexts: e.g. the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly has Stanley and Camp constituencies.
Events leading to the Falklands War
Subsequently, the United Provinces tried to re-establish the settlement at Puerto Soledad as a penal colony, but a mutiny resulted in the murder of one Governor. Shortly after that mutiny had been quelled, in January 1833, a British naval task force arrived charged with the re-establishment of British rule on the islands. The British requested that the Argentine administration leave the islands, who complied with that request without a shot being fired. Contrary to popular belief, the settlers on the island were not expelled at the same time, but were encouraged by the British to remain. The islands remained continuously in British possession from then until 1982.
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
In 1770 a Spanish military expedition was sent to the islands after authorities in Buenos Aires became aware of the British colony. Facing a greater force, the British were expelled from Port Egmont. The colony was restored a year later following British threats of war over the islands; However, in 1774, economic pressures leading up to the American Revolutionary War forced Great Britain to withdraw from the Falklands along with many of its other overseas settlements. they left behind a plaque asserting British sovereignty over the islands. Although there was no British administration in the islands, British and American sealers routinely used them to hunt for seals, also taking on fresh water as well as feral cattle, pigs and even penguins for provisions. Whalers also used the islands to shelter from the South Atlantic weather and to take on fresh provisions.
The Government of the United Provinces of the River Plate attempted to control the islands through commerce, granting fishing and hunting rights to Jorge Pacheco in 1824. Pacheco's partner Luis Vernet established a toehold in the islands in 1826 and a fledgling colony in 1828. He also visited the British consulate in 1826, 1828 and 1829 seeking endorsement of his venture and British protection for his settlement in the event of their returning to the islands. After receiving assurances from the British minister chargé d'affaires, Sir Woodbine Parish, Vernet provided regular reports to the British on the progress of his enterprise. He expressed the wish that, in the event of the British returning to the islands, the British Government would take his settlement under their protection; Parish duly passed this wish on to London. In 1829, he sought a naval vessel from the United Provinces to protect his colony but as none were available he was appointed Military and Civil Commander, prompting British protests. Attempts to regulate fishing and sealing lead to conflict with the United States and the "Lexington" raid of 1831. With the colony in disarray, Major Esteban Mestivier was tasked to set up a penal colony but was murdered in a mutiny shortly after arriving in 1832. Protests at Mestivier's appointment received no response and so the British dispatched a naval squadron to re-establish British rule.
Executive Council of the Falkland Islands
The Executive Council of the Falkland Islands is the policy making body of the Government of the Falkland Islands, exercising executive power by advising the Governor. It has an equivalent role to that of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The first Executive Council for the Falklands was inaugurated on 2 April 1845 by Governor Richard Moody.
Flora of Fuegia, the Falkland Islands, etc
The Flora of Fuegia, the Falkland Islands, etc. is a description of the plants discovered in these islands during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1845 and 1847. Hooker sailed on HMS "Erebus" as assistant surgeon. It was the second in a series of four Floras in the "Flora Antarctica", the others being the "Flora of Lord Auckland and Campbell's Islands" (1843-1845), the "Flora Novae-Zelandiae" (1851–53), and the "Flora Tasmaniae" (1853–59). They were "splendidly" illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch.
Origins of Falkland Islanders
The mainland South American-born Falkland Islanders contributed to shaping the Falklander identity in the 1830s-1850s, and nowadays their legacy is visible in Falklands genealogy, Falklands English vernacular, and Falklands toponymy.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
The breakup of Gondwana in the Mesozoic Era led to the formation of a large number of minor crustal fragments, including the Falkland Islands. At first, the fragment containing the islands separated from the southeastern part of Africa on a section that would become Antarctica and later rotated by almost 180°. The interior of Gondwana was based on crystalline rocks more than a billion years old; in the Falklands today these are found in the Cape Meredith complex. Sand and mud filled and eventually covered the developing continental rifts. Later these sediments covering the rifts hardened into rock. These rock sequences from Gondwana's break-up can be identified in places as far apart as South Africa, western Antarctica and Brazil. In the Falkland Islands, these sequences are known as the West Falkland Group.
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; , ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast, and about from the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of , comprises 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. The Falkland Islands' capital is Stanley on East Falkland.
Falkland Islands
The Falklands remained uninhabited until the 1764 establishment of Port Louis on East Falkland by French captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville, and the 1766 foundation of Port Egmont on Saunders Island by British captain John MacBride. Whether or not the settlements were aware of each other's existence is debated by historians. In 1766, France surrendered its claim on the Falklands to Spain, which renamed the French colony Puerto Soledad the following year. Problems began when Spain discovered and captured Port Egmont in 1770. War was narrowly avoided by its restitution to Britain in 1771.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
The petroleum survey area of the Falkland Islands is in the sea to the north of the islands, covers 400,000 km, and contains several sedimentary basins from the Mesozoic era. After conducting seismic reflection studies and three-dimensional exploration, six test wells were drilled. Five of the six wells produced samples of petroleum. However none produced indications of commercial amounts.
Falkner Island
The identity of the first European explorer is unknown, but it was likely the Dutch explorer Adrian Block who sailed through Long Island Sound around 1614. The United States government credits Block as the discoverer. Early English settlers called it "Falcon Island", likely stemming from the Native American name. Helander writes that the island was probably named for the osprey, but the English translation to "Falcon" suggesting the presence of the peregrine falcon was one of "simple ignorance". The island's name on Dutch maps was "Valcken Eylandt". The name later evolved to Faulkner Island, perhaps as a result of the Faulkner family who lived on the island in the 1700s. When the island was transferred to the U.S. government in 1801, the deed states the name as "Faulkners". The U.S. Board on Geographic Names changed and established "Falkner Island" as its name in 1891. However, the name change is not universally recognized and "popular usage" and the Faulkner's Light Brigade that conserves the island's lighthouse use "Faulkner"; including publications.
Brazil Squadron
An expedition to the Falkland Islands was launched in late 1831 when the sloop-of-war USS "Lexington" was sent to Puerto Soledad to investigate the capture and possible armament of two American whalers. When the sailors arrived at the settlement, its Argentine population was found to be suffering from starvation so Commander Silas Duncan evacuated the colonists to the mainland. Because of this the Falklands were left unpopulated and open for British colonization a few years later. Argentina's dispute with the United Kingdom over rights to the islands culminated in the 1982 Falklands War which left the British in control. Exaggerated accounts in opposition of the American expedition claim that the USS "Lexington" destroyed the town with naval gunfire, but this never occurred.
History of the Falkland Islands
The islands had no native trees when discovered but there is some ambiguous evidence of past forestation, that may be due to wood being transported by oceanic currents from Patagonia. All modern trees have been introduced by Europeans.
Governor of the Falkland Islands
The history of the leadership on the islands is closely related to the history of the Falkland Islands themselves. The first settlement on the islands was at Port St. Louis and was led by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, the Administrator of the French settlement which started in 1764 and ended three years later. The first leader of a British settlement was John McBride, Captain of HMS "Jason", in 1766 at Port Egmont (the settlement being established a year earlier). The French settlement of Port St. Louis was transferred to the Spanish in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad, the first Spanish Military Administrator being Felipe Ruíz Puente. The British chose to withdraw from many overseas settlements in 1776 due to the pressure of the American War of Independence. The Spanish settlement ended in 1811 as a result of the Peninsular war.
Falklands War
The Falklands War (), also known as the Falklands Conflict, Falklands Crisis, Malvinas War, South Atlantic Conflict, and the Guerra del Atlántico Sur (Spanish for "South Atlantic War"), was a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands, and its territorial dependency, the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It began on Friday, 2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands (and, the following day, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it had claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.
Falklands Crisis (1770)
Several British and Spanish historians maintain their own explorers discovered the islands, leading to claims from both sides on the grounds of prior discovery. In January 1690, English sailor John Strong, captain of the "Welfare", sailed between the two principal islands and called the passage "Falkland Channel" (now Falkland Sound), after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland. The island group later took its English name from this body of water.
History of the Falkland Islands
A few years after the British had established themselves in the islands, a number of new British settlements were started. Initially many of these settlements were established in order to exploit the feral cattle on the islands. Following the introduction of the Cheviot breed of sheep to the islands in 1852, sheep farming became the dominant form of agriculture on the Islands.
2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum
The final wording of the question was proposed by the Legislative Assembly in October 2012 and adopted by the Executive Council on 21 November 2012. The question posed by the referendum was:
In order to vote in the referendum, electors had to be resident in the islands, aged 18 or over and have Falkland Islands status. According to the 2012 census, 11% of the electorate were not born in either the Falkland Islands or the UK; this included 13 Argentine-born electors. Polls were open from 10:00 to 18:00 FKST (UTC−3) on Sunday 10 and Monday 11 March 2013 in the two constituencies of the islands (Stanley and Camp).
Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust
The Falkland Islands Museum is located at the historical dockyard site in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is run by the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust (FIMNT), which is a registered charity. The Museum has no formal collections policy, but it covers the natural and cultural history of the Falkland Islands. The FIMNT is also involved in the care and protection of various sites and structures of archaeological and historic importance through the islands. The new museum features an interactive room focused on the stories of the Islanders during the 1982 conflict. There is also a large area dedicated to the maritime history, which finally allows large pieces to be displayed and enjoyed.
Geography of the Falkland Islands
The geological history of the Falkland Islands began during the Precambrian era more than 1000 million years ago, when Proterozoic granites and gneisses were laid down in Gondwana. These rocks became part of the Cape Meredith/ formation and outcrop at the Cape. During the Siluro-Devonian era, these rocks were overlain with quartzose and subarkosic sandstones with some siltstone and mudstone, rocks that are particularly erosion- and weather-resistant, giving these parts of the islands a rugged landscape and coastline.
Tectonic forces continued to form the region: a mountain chain formed, part of which now creates Wickham Heights on East Falkland Island and extends westwards through West Falkland into the Jason Islands. A basin developed and was filled with land-based, or terrigenous, sediments. These layers of sand and mud filled the basin as it sank and as they hardened they produced the rocks of the sedimentary Lafonia Group of the Falklands. These rocks are similar to those in southern Africa's Karoo basin.
Falkland Islands
Both the British and Spanish settlements coexisted in the archipelago until 1774, when Britain's new economic and strategic considerations led it to voluntarily withdraw from the islands, leaving a plaque claiming the Falklands for King George III. Spain's Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata became the only governmental presence in the territory. West Falkland was left abandoned, and Puerto Soledad became mostly a prison camp. Amid the British invasions of the Río de la Plata during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the islands' governor evacuated the archipelago in 1806; Spain's remaining colonial garrison followed suit in 1811, except for gauchos and fishermen who remained voluntarily.
Falkland Islanders
A few Islanders are of French, Gibraltarian, Portuguese and Scandinavian descent. Some are the descendants of whalers who reached the Islands during the last two centuries. There is also a small minority of South American, mainly Chilean origin, and in more recent times many people from Saint Helena have also come to work and live in the Islands.
History of the Falkland Islands
Pressure to develop the islands as a colony began to build as the result of a campaign mounted by British merchant G.T. Whittington. Whittington formed the Falkland Islands Commercial Fishery and Agricultural Association and (based on information indirectly obtained from Vernet) published a pamphlet entitled "The Falkland Islands". Later a petition signed by London merchants was presented to the British Government demanding the convening of a public meeting to discuss the future development of the Falkland Islands. Whittington petitioned the Colonial Secretary, Lord Russell, proposing that his association be allowed to colonise the islands. In May 1840, the British Government made the decision to colonise the Falkland Islands.
Outline of the Falkland Islands
The islands lie on the boundary of the Subarctic maritime climate and Temperate maritime climate zones with both major islands having mountain ranges reaching to . The islands are home to large bird populations, although many no longer breed on the main islands because of the effects of introduced species. Major economic activities include fishing, tourism, sheep farming with an emphasis on high-quality wool exports, and oil exploration. Oil exploration, licensed by the Falkland Islands Government, remains controversial as a result of maritime disputes with Argentina.Geography of the Falkland Islands
Regions of the Falkland Islands
Postage stamps and postal history of the Falkland Islands
The first stamps, 1d and 6d values featuring the profile of Queen Victoria, were issued 19 June 1878. Unusually for a British colony, the first stamps were not on watermarked paper, but this was rectified in 1883. Additional values of this design appeared from time to time until 1902.
History of the Falkland Islands
In 1828, the United Provinces government granted Vernet all of East Falkland including all its resources, and exempted him from taxation if a colony could be established within three years. He took settlers, including British Captain Matthew Brisbane (who had sailed to the islands earlier with Weddell), and before leaving once again sought permission from the British Consulate in Buenos Aires. The British asked for a report for the British government on the islands, and Vernet asked for British protection should they return.
History of the Falkland Islands
A line was laid between Darwin and Stanley, with the ship "Consort" landing poles on the coast. Construction commenced in 1906 and was finished in 1907 (a length of nearly ). The line was initially only for business but the public could make calls occasionally. Lines continued to be laid to most of the major settlements in the islands, with the Falkland Islands police responsible for their maintenance till 1927. Communications among the settlements relied on the telephone network until radio telephones were introduced in the 1950s, although the telephone network continued until 1982. Telecommunications improved dramatically after the Falklands War, when an earth station was installed to allow direct dialling for the first time. In 1997, an Internet service was launched and by 2002 nearly 90% of Falkland homes had Internet access.
History of the Falkland Islands
Barnard and his party survived for eighteen months marooned on the islands until the British ships "Indispensable" and "Asp" rescued them in November 1814. The British admiral in Rio de Janeiro had requested their masters to divert to the area to look for him. In 1829, Barnard published an account of his survival entitled "A Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Capt Charles H. Barnard".
List of Dutch explorations
In 1600 the Dutch navigator Sebald de Weert made the first undisputed sighting of the Falkland Islands. It was on his homeward leg back to the Netherlands after having left the Straits of Magellan that Sebald De Weert noticed some unnamed and uncharted islands, at least islands that did not exist on his nautical charts. There he attempted to stop and replenish but was unable to land due to harsh conditions. The islands Sebald de Weert charted were a small group off the northwest coast of the Falkland Islands and are in fact part of the Falklands. De Weert then named these islands the “Sebald de Weert Islands” and the Falklands as a whole were known as the Sebald Islands until well into the 18th century.
Geography of the Falkland Islands
The main settlements in the islands are at Stanley which as of 2012 had a population of 2,121, and RAF Mount Pleasant, which in 2006 had a population of about 1,700. A further 351 people lived in ""Camp" (outside Stanley) − just over half in East Falkland, a third in West Falkland and the remainder on outlying islands. The principal settlements on East Falkland (excluding Stanley and Mount Pleasant) are at Darwin and Goose Green, on West Falkland at Port Howard and Fox Bay and on the islands, the Pebble Island Settlement. At the time of the Falklands War, the settlements in "Camp" were connected by tracks that were often impassable in wet weather, but by 2007 the Falkland Islands had a road network of , with further roads planned for construction to link all occupied mainland settlements by 2013.
History of the Falkland Islands
The presence of the warrah, "Dusicyon australis", has often been cited as evidence of pre-European occupation of the islands. However, in 2009, this hypothesis was disproved when DNA analysis identified the Falkland Island wolf's closest living relative as the maned wolf ("Chrysocyon brachyurus") – an unusually long-legged, fox-like South American canid, from which it separated about 6.7 million years ago. It would seem that the lineages of the maned wolf and the Falkland Islands wolf separated in North America; canids did not appear in South America until roughly 3 million years ago in a paleozoogeographical event called the Great American Biotic Interchange, in which the continents of North and South America were newly connected by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. This means it is likely that the warrah arrived in the islands long before humans.
Origins of Falkland Islanders
Charles Darwin, who visited the Falklands in 1833 and 1834, was greatly impressed by the expertise of his two gaucho assistants in the exploration of the interior of East Falkland:
Falkland Islands
A significant population decline affected the archipelago in the twentieth century, with many young islanders moving overseas in search of education, a modern lifestyle, and better job opportunities, particularly to the British city of Southampton, which came to be known in the islands as "Stanley north". In recent years, the islands' population decline has reduced, thanks to immigrants from the United Kingdom, Saint Helena, and Chile. In the 2012 census, a majority of residents listed their nationality as Falkland Islander (59 percent), followed by British (29 percent), Saint Helenian (9.8 percent), and Chilean (5.4 percent). A small number of Argentines also live on the islands.
Falkland Islanders
Falkland Islanders, also called Falklanders and nicknamed Kelpers, are the people of the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands.
Falkland Islands
In the first half of the 20th century, the Falklands served an important role in Britain's territorial claims to subantarctic islands and a section of Antarctica. The Falklands governed these territories as the Falkland Islands Dependencies starting in 1908, and retained them until their dissolution in 1985. The Falklands also played a minor role in the two world wars as a military base aiding control of the South Atlantic. In the First World War Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, a Royal Navy fleet defeated an Imperial German squadron. In the Second World War, following the December 1939 Battle of the River Plate, the battle-damaged HMS "Exeter" steamed to the Falklands for repairs. In 1942, a battalion en route to India was redeployed to the Falklands as a garrison amid fears of a Japanese seizure of the archipelago. After the war ended, the Falklands economy was affected by declining wool prices and the political uncertainty resulting from the revived sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
Port Louis, Falkland Islands
Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed "Puerto Soledad" (In Spanish, East Falkland is known as "Isla Soledad").
The settlement has seen several name changes. The original French settlers named the settlement Port Saint Louis, which was changed to Puerto Soledad upon the Spanish take over. Vernet reverted to a Spanish version of the original name when he formed his settlement, Puerto Luis. The British renamed the settlement Anson's Harbour for a while before reverting once more to the original French name, Port Louis.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
The geological history of the Falkland Islands began more than thousand million years ago (Mya), before they existed as separate islands. From its earliest history the Falklands Islands has been linked to South America. Evidence from xenoliths suggests that the lithosphere of Deseado Massif in southern Patagonia formed 2100 to 1000 Mya in the Paleo and Mesoproterozoic. Since these times the Falklands Islands and Deseado Massive have formed a single tectonic block. Like today both regions were next to each other during the Neoproterozoic when they formed part of the ancient supercontinent of Rodinia.
History of the Falkland Islands
The seas around the Falkland Islands were not well policed prior to the Falklands War, and many foreign boats fished off the islands, despite protests that potential revenue was being lost. Fishing licences were only later to be introduced.
Falklands War
The conflict was a major episode in the protracted confrontation over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina asserted (and maintains) that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory. The British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty. Neither state officially declared war, although both governments declared the Islands a war zone. Hostilities were almost exclusively limited to the territories under dispute and the area of the South Atlantic where they lie.
Demographics of South America
According to the 2012 census, the average daily population of the Falklands was 2,932, excluding military personnel serving in the archipelago and their dependents. 
The Falklands are a homogeneous society, with the majority of inhabitants descended from Scottish and Welsh immigrants who settled the territory in 1833. Other groups are English, French, Gibraltarian, Scandinavian, Saint Helenian, Chilean and Argentine.
Forgotten Voices of the Falklands
In March 1982, Argentina surprised the world by invading the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The tiny islands had long been the subject of a fierce territorial dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom, and the occupation quickly escalated into a full-blown conflict between the two countries.
Aftermath of the Falklands War
The Falkland Islands remained a self-governing British overseas territory, but shortly after the war the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 granted the Islanders British citizenship (replacing British Dependent Territories citizenship), strengthening the link between the Islanders and the UK. The economy also benefited indirectly from UK military investment and directly from development of fisheries. The future of the Falkland Islanders' link to the UK has been more certain as a result of the war, and the Islands' government remains committed to self-determination and British sovereignty. The only civilian deaths during the war were three women who were killed when a Royal Navy shell hit the house they were sheltering in during a bombardment of military targets inside Stanley itself.
Land mines in the Falkland Islands
Argentinian forces invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic, in April 1982. British forces retook the islands by 14 June in the Falklands War. One of the first actions taken by the Argentinians was to lay mine fields to assist in the defence of the islands. Despite rumours that land mines were scattered randomly by helicopter the majority of the mine field seem to have been laid in a professional manner and the locations of mines recorded. Approximately 30,000 land mines – of which there were at least 20,000 anti-personnel mines and 5,000 anti-tank devices – were laid in 146 separate mine fields. These are largely around the settlements of Stanley, Port Howard, Fox Bay and Goose Green.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
Geological surveys of the Falklands began in the late 1970s, when two petroleum services companies undertook seismic surveys of the Falklands and the surrounding seafloor. Although the data appeared to indicate the area was a viable site for exploratory drilling, the islands' government was not prepared to grant licences for drilling. With the growth of oil extraction in the North Sea, most crude extraction in British waters was confined to the North Sea area. Some limited surveying did continue, but this was halted entirely following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina in 1982 and the subsequent conflict.
West Falkland
While the first recorded landing on the main islands of the Falklands was on West Falkland, it was settled remarkably late. In 1867 there were no settlers on West Falkland. The government issued a proclamation offering leases of grazing stations on very moderate terms and in 1868 all the available land was occupied.
Wildlife of the Falkland Islands
The archipelago had only one terrestrial mammal upon the arrival of Europeans, the Falkland Islands wolf (also known as warrah), found on both major islands. It was traditionally thought that Patagonian Indians once brought the warrah to the islands as a hunting dog. However, a 2009 DNA study by scientists at UCLA suggested that the warrah arrived on the islands long before humans migrated to the New World, possibly during one of the particularly intense cold intervals 340,000 years ago, 150,000 years ago or 25,000 years ago. Its nearest relative was the maned wolf, an extant South American canid. It became extinct in the mid-19th century as human settlement spread. 14 species of marine mammals including killer whales, Peale's dolphins, Commerson's dolphins, leopard seals, southern elephant seals, and southern sea lions frequent the surrounding waters. The elephant seal, the fur seal, and the sea lions all breed on the islands, and the largest elephant seal breeding site has over 500 animals in it. Other species, especially cetaceans, are also sometimes seen. Populations of large whales, drastically reduced by illegal whaling carried out by the Soviet Union until the late 1970s, are now recovering. These include southern right whales, humpback whales, blue whales, fin whales, sei whales, and sperm whales.
227 bird species have been seen on the islands, over 60 of which are known to breed on the islands. 21 of the resident species are land birds, and 18 are water birds. There are 22 species of seabirds which breed on the islands, and at least 18 annual migrators who breed elsewhere. There are two endemic species of bird (the Falkland steamer duck and Cobb's wren), and 14 endemic subspecies.
History of the Falkland Islands
On 10 June 1829, Vernet was designated as 'civil and military commandant' of the islands (no Governor was ever appointed) and granted a monopoly on seal hunting rights. A protest was lodged by the British Consulate in Buenos Aires. By 1831, the colony was successful enough to be advertising for new colonists, although the "Lexington"'s report suggests that the conditions on the islands were quite miserable. Charles Darwin's visit in 1833 confirmed the squalid conditions in the settlement, although Captain Matthew Brisbane (Vernet's deputy) later claimed that this was the result of the "Lexington" raid.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
The oldest rocks in the Falklands are gneiss and granite in the Cape Meredith complex, which radiometric studies place at around 1100 million years old. These types of rocks are visible in cliffs at the south end of West Falkland. The Cape Meredith complex corresponds to the crystalline rocks that made up the interior of the Gondwana supercontinent. This type of rock also has a great geological similarity to rocks currently found in South Africa and in Queen Maud Land in Antarctica. On top of the gneiss and granite lie layers of quartzite, sandstone, and shales or mudstone in West Falkland. Cross-bedding and ripple marks identify the zone where these rocks were deposited as the shallow waters of a delta environment where currents transported submarine sediments. In the case of the Falklands these palaeocurrent directions mostly run northward, and are very similar to those in formations in South Africa that run southward. Comparison of the two provides evidence that the block of sandstone sediments that contains the islands has rotated. Rocks in the central part of West Falkland contain fossils of marine organisms that lived in shallow water.
Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands
Since the re-establishment of British rule on the Falkland Islands in the 19th century, the Governor, through consultation with the elected Legislative Council of the Falkland Islands, had almost complete control over executive power on the Falklands.
Chileans in the Falkland Islands
Chileans in the Falkland Islands are people of Chilean ancestry or nationality who live in the Falkland Islands. The Chilean community on the Falklands are the biggest population from mainland South America and also the biggest non-British group representing over 6% of the total population according to the 2012 census, although the true number may be higher as many islanders of Chilean origin listed their national identity as 'Falkland Islander' and Chileans working on the islands temporarily were not counted in the census.
South Falkland
South Falkland was an English colony in Newfoundland established by Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland, in 1623 on territory in the Avalon Peninsula including the former colony of Renews. Cary appointed Sir Francis Tanfield, his wife's cousin, to be the colony's first Proprietary Governor. Tanfield founded the colony of South Falkland at Renews in 1623. It was still in existence by 1626 but ultimately failed. The settlers are thought to have returned to England or Ireland by 1630, and Cary granted much of his land to Sir Henry Salisbury who had been Cary's only known investor.
Falkland Islands wolf
An Ice Age land bridge or ice connection between the Falkland Islands and South America, enabling the species' ancestors to traverse the gap, has long been suggested. There was never a true land bridge between the islands and South America, but submarine terraces have been found on the Argentine coastal shelf, formed by low sea-stands during the last glacial phase. This suggests that there was a shallow strait as narrow as 20 km, which may have frozen completely at times. It seems likely that the founding population of the wolf crossed on this ice bridge during the last Ice Age. This would explain the absence of other mainland mammals on the islands; an ice crossing is much more difficult than crossing a land bridge.
History of the Falkland Islands
Argentina invaded the islands on 2 April 1982, using special forces, which landed at Mullet Creek and advanced on Government House in Stanley, with a secondary force coming in from Yorke Bay. They encountered little opposition, there being only a small force of fifty-seven British marines and eleven sailors, in addition to the Falkland Islands Defence Force (who were later sent to Fox Bay). There was only one Argentine fatality. The event garnered international attention at a level which the islands had never experienced before, and made them a household name in the UK.
Flag of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands have been claimed and occupied by several nations throughout its history, who generally used their national flags on the islands. It wasn't until 1876 that the islands were given a flag of their own, which consisted of a Blue Ensign defaced with the seal of the islands - an image of HMS "Hebe" (which brought many of the early British settlers to the islands, including Richard Moody, in the 1840s) in Falkland Sound, overlooked by a bullock (representing wild cattle which once roamed the islands). A new coat-of-arms for the islands was introduced on 16 October 1925, consisting of the "Desire" (which was captained by John Davis who is reputed to have discovered the islands in 1592) and a sea lion in a shield surrounded by the motto of the islands, "Desire the Right". This coat-of-arms later replaced the image of the bullock and ship on the flag.
Falkland Islands wolf
A DNA analysis and a study of comparative brain anatomy suggest that the closest living relative of the Falkland Islands wolf is the South American maned wolf. Their most recent common ancestor was estimated to have lived some 6 million years ago and was close to the most recent common ancestor of all South American canids, "Eucyon" or a close relative. It would seem that the lineages of the maned wolf and the Falkland Islands wolf separated in North America; canids did not appear in South America until roughly 3 million years ago in a paleozoogeographical event called the Great American Biotic Interchange, in which the continents of North and South America were newly connected by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. However, no fossil from North America can be assigned to the Falkland Islands wolf or its immediate ancestors.
2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum
The results were announced by Keith Padgett, the Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands, at 22:40 FKST (UTC−3), in Stanley Town Hall. The high vote to remain a British territory was widely expected, with even the small Argentine population on the islands saying they would vote 'Yes'. Several commentators, including the BBC's correspondent Caroline Wyatt, had anticipated a fairly large 'No' vote from islanders who wanted a second referendum on independence. However, out of the 1,518 ballots cast, only three voters were against keeping the islands' current status. Turnout was over 90% with 1,650 islanders eligible to vote in a population of 2,841. It is possible that at least one of the three people that voted 'No' did so out of a desire for full independence. There was one blank and one invalid votes each, the latter coming from a voter who both ticked the Yes box and crossed the No one. Despite recognizing the intent for a yes vote, the officials considered it invalid, as the rules written directly above on the ballot clearly forbade making signs in both boxes. Around twenty to thirty "doubtful" votes with signs others than ticks or crosses in the yes box were examined during the count, and deemed valid yes votes.
Origins of Falkland Islanders
Some Falkland Islanders were even born beyond the Antarctic Convergence, most recently in the 1980s in the territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum
Negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands took place between Argentina and the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, but no agreement was ever reached. In 1982 the Argentine military junta, which ruled Argentina at the time, invaded and occupied the islands, beginning the Falklands War at the end of which the islands came back under British control. Since the war, Argentina has continued to call for the resumption of negotiations, but the United Kingdom refuses such requests, stating that the Falkland Islanders have the right to self-determination.
Falkland Islands wolf
The Falkland Islands wolf existed on both West and East Falkland, but Charles Darwin was uncertain if they were differentiated varieties. Its fur had a tawny colour and the tip of the tail was white. Its diet is unknown, but, due to the absence of native rodents on the Falklands, probably consisted of ground-nesting birds such as geese and penguins, seal pups, and insects, as well as seashore scavenging. It has sometimes been said that it may have lived in burrows.
History of the Falkland Islands
However, with the growing economic pressures stemming from the upcoming American War of Independence, the British government decided that it should withdraw its presence from many overseas settlements in 1774. On 20 May 1776 the British forces under the command of Royal Naval Lieutenant Clayton formally left Port Egmont, while leaving a plaque asserting Britain's continuing sovereignty over the islands. For the next four years, British sealers used Egmont as a base for their activities in the South Atlantic. This ended in 1780 when they were forced to leave by Spanish authorities who then ordered that the British colony be destroyed.
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
Following the Gaucho murders in August 1833, the Falklands were administered as a military outpost with the few remaining residents of Vernet's colony. The first British Resident, Lt Smith, was established in 1834 and under his administration and initiative the settlement recovered and began to prosper. Lt Smith's commanding officer was not enthusiastic about Royal Navy officers engaged in encouraging commerce, and rebuked Smith. Smith resigned, and subsequent residents allowed the settlement to stagnate.
Geology of the Falkland Islands
The geology of the Falkland Islands is described in several publications. The Falkland Islands are located on a projection of the Patagonian continental shelf. In ancient geological time this shelf was part of Gondwana, which around 400 million years ago broke from what is now Africa and drifted westwards relative to Africa. Studies of the seabed surrounding the islands indicated the possibility of oil. Intensive exploration began in 1996, although there had been some earlier seismic surveys in the region.
History of the Falkland Islands
Vernet furnished Samuel Fisher Lafone, a British merchant operating from Montevideo, with details of the Falkland Islands including a map. Sensing that the exploitation of feral cattle on the islands would be a lucrative venture, in 1846 he negotiated a contract with the British Government that gave him exclusive rights to this resource. Until 1846 Moody had allotted feral cattle to new settlers and the new agreement not only prevented this but made Stanley dependent upon Lafone for supplies of beef.
Falklands Day
Falklands Day is the celebration of the first sighting of the Falkland Islands by John Davis in 1592, and is celebrated on 14 August.
Falkland Islanders
With retrospective effect from 1 January 1983, as provided in the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, the Falkland Islanders have been full British citizens.
East Falkland
Shortly after this, the second voyage of HMS Beagle surveyed the island. The names of two settlements on East Falkland, Darwin and Fitzroy, commemorate Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy. On 15 March 1833, an unimpressed Darwin wrote
Origins of Falkland Islanders
The early 20th century brought about a new industry to the region, Antarctic whaling in South Georgia, that supported a transient population varying from few hundred in winter to over 1,000 in summer. Some Falkland Islanders found employment with South Georgian whaling bases or ships, while some whalers settled in the Falklands to blend into the local populace. The whalers were predominantly Scandinavian (Norwegians, Swedes and Danes), with a minority of Britons, Germans, and a variety of other European nations. As a result of both natural demographic growth and ongoing immigration, the population of the Falkland Islands reached a peak of 2,392 recorded in the 1931 census, a figure that would not be surpassed until late in the twentieth century.
Outline of the Falkland Islands
The population, estimated at 2,841, primarily consists of native Falkland Islanders, the vast majority being of British descent. Other ethnicities include French, Gibraltarian, and Scandinavian. Immigration from the United Kingdom, Saint Helena, and Chile has reversed a former population decline. The predominant and official language is English. Under the British Nationality Act of 1983, Falkland Islanders are legally British citizens.
Timeline of the history of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands () have a complex history stretching over five hundred years. Active exploration and colonisation began in the 18th century but a self-supporting colony was not established till the latter part of the 19th century. Nonetheless, the islands have been a matter of controversy, as due to their strategic position in the 18th century their sovereignty was claimed by the French, Spaniards, British and Argentines at various points.
2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum
A referendum on political status was held in the Falkland Islands on 10–11 March 2013. The Falkland Islanders were asked whether or not they supported the continuation of their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom in view of Argentina's call for negotiations on the islands' sovereignty.
Falkland Islands Company
The Falkland Islands Company (FIC) was incorporated in 1851 and received its Royal Charter on 10 January 1852. Established with an authorised capital of £100,000 its purpose was to engage in agricultural and general trading activities including establishing a shipping link with the UK. In 1888,FIC purchased J M Dean & Sons for shares. J M Dean acted as agent for farmers, and operated the West Store in the capital Stanley. The company was also a Lloyds Agent and owned a hotel and other property assets in the Islands.
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 2,460 the entire population of the Falkland Islands was 3,398 on Census Day on 9 October 2016