An international airport is located at the Mount Pleasant Military Complex. In the late 20th century the government instituted policies to encourage an increase in the number of smaller, locally operated farms rather than corporate-owned farms. The wool is sold in Great Britain and is the Falklands’ leading land-based export. The population of the Falkland Islands is English-speaking and consists primarily of Falklanders of British descent. Dolphins and porpoises are common, and southern sea lions and elephant seals are also numerous.

Tierwelt der Falklandinseln

Executive authority is vested in the British crown, and the islands’ government is headed by a governor appointed by the crown. Stanley Harbour is the islands’ main port; it has a commercial wharf and receives cruise ships. Ranges of hills run east-west across the northern parts of the two main islands, reaching 2,312 feet (705 metres) at Mount Usborne in East Falkland. They are home to large bird populations, although many no longer breed on the main islands owing to predation by introduced species. The windswept and almost-treeless territory is made up of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, as well as hundreds of smaller islands and islets. Sporting activities are popular on the islands and include bird-watching, fishing, and horseback riding.

Government Services

The islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean, on the Patagonian Shelf, about 300 mi (480 km) east of Patagonia in southern Argentina. A British military garrison is stationed on the islands, and the Falkland Islands government funds an additional platoon to company-sized light infantry Falkland Islands Defence Force. The governor acts on the advice of the islands‘ Executive Council, composed of the chief executive, the Director of Finance and three elected members of the Legislative Assembly (with the governor as chairman). The Monarch of the United Kingdom is the head of state, and executive authority is exercised on the monarch’s behalf by the governor, who appoints the islands‘ chief executive on the advice of members of the Legislative Assembly.

The islands’ sheep stations (ranches) vary in size and may be owned by individual families or by companies based in Britain. Almost the whole area of the two main islands, outside of Stanley, is devoted to sheep farming. The port settlement of Stanley has regained the islands‘ economic focus, with an increase in population as workers migrate from Camp. The islands‘ major exports include wool, hides, venison, fish and squid; its main imports include fuel, building materials and clothing.

FALKLAND ISLAND: FACTS

• Such efforts have enabled the islands’ economy to enjoy sustained growth since the late 20th century.
• Introduced species include reindeer, hares, rabbits, Patagonian foxes, brown rats, and cats.
• The islands’ British heritage is apparent in Stanley, where pubs, bright red mailboxes, and well-kept gardens are numerous.

Where livestock grazing has been controlled, coastal tussock grass (Parodiochloa flabellata) still covers offshore islands. Consistently high west winds average 19 miles (31 km) per hour, while the mean annual average temperature is about 42 °F (5 °C), with an average maximum of 49 °F (9 °C) and an average minimum of 37 °F (3 °C). Falkland Islands, internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic Ocean.

• The remaining 2 per cent identified as adherents of other religions, including the Baháʼí Faith, Buddhism, and Islam.
• 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.
• Falkland Islands, internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic Ocean.
• In recent years, the islands‘ population decline has reduced, thanks to immigrants from the United Kingdom, Saint Helena, and Chile.

Executive Council Papers

There are also five different penguin species and a few of the largest albatross colonies on the planet. More than 400 species of lichens and lichen-dwelling fungi have been recorded. The only endemic bird species on the Falkland Islands are the flightless Falkland steamer duck and Cobb’s wren. The Falkland Islands are chicken road games biogeographically part of the Antarctic zone, with strong connections to the flora and fauna of Patagonia in mainland South America. However, in May 2024, newly elected Argentine president Javier Milei, expressed general acceptance and tolerance for British rule, for the time being, noting it could take decades for Argentina to gain control of the islands.

KEMH Welcomes Findings of Independent Maternity Service Review

After the war the UK expanded its military presence, building RAF Mount Pleasant and increasing the size of its garrison. 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. 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 half of the 20th century, the Falklands served an important role in Britain’s territorial claims to subantarctic islands and a section of Antarctica. Buenos Aires named Vernet military and civil commander of the islands in 1829, and he attempted to regulate sealing to stop the activities of foreign whalers and sealers. The port, located in the Brittany region of western France, was named after St. Malo (or Maclou), the Christian evangelist who founded the city. Bougainville, who founded the islands‘ first settlement, named the area after the port of Saint-Malo (the point of departure for his ships and colonists). The name Falkland Islands comes from Falkland Sound, the strait that separates the two main islands.

Executive Council papers, forward plans and public minutes. The islands have one weekly newspaper, The Penguin News, and television and radio broadcasts generally feature programming from the United Kingdom. The Falkland Islands government pays for older students to attend institutions of higher education, usually in the United Kingdom. The main Christian denominations are Anglicanism and other Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism. The remaining 2 per cent identified as adherents of other religions, including the Baháʼí Faith, Buddhism, and Islam. The Falkland-born population are also descended from English and French people, Gibraltarians, Scandinavians, and South Americans.

The islands’ cool and windy climate offers few temperature extremes and only minor seasonal variability. The two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, and about 200 smaller islands form a total land area nearly as extensive as the U.S. state of Connecticut. (2012, excluding British military personnel stationed on the islands) 2,563. In South America the islands are generally known as Islas Malvinas, because early French settlers had named them Malouines, or Malovines, in 1764, after their home port of Saint-Malo, France.

Falkland-Inseln – Südgeorgien – Antarktische Halbinsel

There is no party-political activity on the islands. Argentina says it has a right to the islands, which it calls the Malvinas, because it inherited them from the Spanish crown in the early 1800s. Argentine forces, who had landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim, were ejected by a British military task force. Each section of the website is crafted to enrich your understanding of the islands, offering both practical tips and engaging narratives. The governor presides over the Executive Council and must consult with it in the discharge of most of his or her duties but may, in certain circumstances, act against the advice of the council.

The islands are self-governing, although foreign affairs and defence matters are handled by the British government. It has also based its claim on the islands‘ proximity to the South American mainland. With two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, and over 700 smaller islands, the archipelago is a haven for adventurers and nature enthusiasts alike. The islands’ British heritage is apparent in Stanley, where pubs, bright red mailboxes, and well-kept gardens are numerous.

Press Statements and Public Service Announcements

Development projects in education and sports have been funded by the Falklands government, without aid from the United Kingdom. Endemic land animals have been the most affected by introduced species, and several bird species have been extirpated from the larger islands. Several of these species have harmed native flora and fauna, so the government has tried to contain, remove or exterminate foxes, rabbits and rats. The islands are frequented by marine mammals, such as the southern elephant seal and the South American fur seal, and various types of cetaceans; offshore islands house the rare striated caracara.

The islands‘ only native terrestrial mammal, the warrah, was hunted to extinction by European settlers. The archipelago’s two main islands are separated by the Falkland Sound, and its deep coastal indentations form natural harbours. The islands are predominantly mountainous and hilly, with the major exception being the depressed plains of Lafonia (a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland). The archipelago consists of two main islands, West Falkland and East Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. Though asserting „We will not relinquish our sovereignty“ over the islands, Milei said they would not „seek conflict with the United Kingdom“ over them, preferring to resolve the dispute „within the framework of peace.“ The islands‘ judicial system, overseen by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is largely based on English law, and the constitution binds the territory to the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Substantive sovereignty talks again ended by 1981, and the dispute escalated with passing time. Nonetheless, Falklander dissent, as expressed by their strong lobby in the UK Parliament, and tensions between the UK and Argentina effectively limited sovereignty negotiations until 1977. An agreement on trade ties between the archipelago and the mainland was reached in 1971 and, consequently, Argentina built a temporary airfield at Stanley in 1972.

Several hundred thousand sheep are kept on the islands, producing several thousand tons of wool annually as well as some mutton. The pattern of living on the islands is sharply differentiated between Stanley and the small, isolated sheep-farming communities. Squid are abundant in the waters surrounding the islands, but overfishing became an issue in the 1990s, and measures were taken to correct the problem. About 65 species of birds, including black-browed albatrosses, Falkland pipits, peregrine falcons, and striated caracaras, are found on the islands. The islands’ vegetation is low and dense in a landscape with no natural tree growth.

The population (3,662 inhabitants in 2021) consists of around 40% native-born Falkland Islanders, with the rest of the population being immigrants, primarily from the United Kingdom, the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, Chile, and the Philippines. At various times, the islands have had French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. The islands are believed to have been uninhabited prior to European discovery in the 17th century. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands.

The sovereignty dispute intensified during the 1960s, shortly after the United Nations passed a resolution on decolonisation which Argentina interpreted as favourable to its position. Simmering tensions between the UK and Argentina increased during the second half of the century, when Argentine President Juan Perón asserted sovereignty over the archipelago. The high cost of importing materials, combined with the shortage of labour and consequent high wages, meant the ship repair trade became uncompetitive. Economic growth began only after the Falkland Islands Company, which bought out Lafone’s failing enterprise in 1851,I successfully introduced Cheviot sheep for wool farming, spurring other farms to follow suit. Early in its history, Stanley had a negative reputation due to cargo-shipping losses; only in emergencies would ships rounding Cape Horn stop at the port. Stanley, as Port Jackson was soon renamed, officially became the seat of government in 1845.