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Falkland Islands
last update: Feb 01, 2010 02:03 PM
UK
Also known as Islas Malvinas.
The Falkland Islands (51°45'S, 59°00'W) were officially discovered on 14 August 1592 by John Davis during an English naval expedition, even though there is evidence that Patagonian Indians may have reached the islands in canoes before that. The Spanish name for the Falklands, Islas Malvinas, comes from early French navigators who called the islands "Les Malouines" after their home port St Malo. Although Argentina had persistently affirmed its claim to the Falklands since 1833, successive British governments never publicly acknowledged that claim until the late 1960s.
The Falklands consist of two main islands, East and West Falkland, and about 700 smaller ones (the main ones being Sea Lion Island, Bleaker Island, Pebble Island, Keppel Island, Saunders Island and Carcass Island), with the capital being Stanley. They are surrounded by the South Atlantic Ocean and cover 12,173 sq km (roughly the same area as Northern Ireland or Connecticut). Mt Usborne, East Falkland's highest point, rises up to 710m, and West Falkland's highest point, Mt Adam, rises up to 679m. There are no native trees on the islands, but mostly grasslands and shrubs. There are five different types of penguin on the islands: the Magellanic, rockhopper, macaroni, gentoo and king. There are many other kinds of birds, however. Two-thirds of the population on the Falkland Islands live in Stanley - they overall population is 2,895.
