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The Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
A South Atlantic archipelago administered by Britain and claimed by Argentina
Some 480 kilometers off the coast of Patagonia, the Falkland Islands are a windswept South Atlantic archipelago of peat moorland, sheep pasture, and penguin colonies, and the subject of one of the longest-running sovereignty disputes in the Americas. The United Kingdom administers them as a self-governing British Overseas Territory. Argentina claims them as the Islas Malvinas, part of its southernmost province, and its constitution commits the country to recovering them by peaceful means. The islanders themselves, about 3,600 people, voted almost unanimously in 2013 to remain British. The dispute turned to war in 1982, and it remains a fixed point of Argentine politics and of British foreign policy.
The archipelago covers about 12,173 square kilometers across two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, separated by Falkland Sound, and some 740 smaller ones. The land is low and rolling, rising to 705 meters at Mount Usborne, and the climate is cool, damp, and almost constantly windy. Stanley, on East Falkland, is the capital and home to most residents, and the British military base at Mount Pleasant lies to its southwest. English is the language, and the Falkland Islands pound, pegged at par to sterling, is the currency. The economy, once built on wool, now rests on fishing licenses, especially for squid, along with tourism and the prospect of offshore oil at the Sea Lion field to the north, a development Argentina opposes.
French, British, and Spanish settlers came and went in the 18th century, and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Argentina's forerunner, asserted control in the 1820s before Britain took possession in 1833. Argentina has protested ever since, arguing that it inherited the islands from Spain and lost them to force. Britain points to continuous administration since 1833 and to the islanders' right to self-determination. In April 1982 Argentina's military government landed troops, and British forces retook the islands after a 74-day war that killed 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen and three islanders. The 2013 referendum returned 99.8 percent for remaining British, a result Argentina does not recognize. In September 2026 Argentina again pressed its claim at the United Nations, and London restated its support for self-determination.