Falkland Islands – remote South Atlantic islands with a contested history
The Falkland Islands had no known permanent population when European sailors began to visit them. The English captain John Strong landed in 1690 and named Falkland Sound. In the 1760s France founded a settlement on East Falkland, and Britain established one at Port Egmont on Saunders Island. France soon handed its settlement to Spain, and for several decades the islands were claimed and briefly occupied by more than one power.
After Spain withdrew in the early nineteenth century, the newly independent United Provinces of the Río de la Plata asserted a claim and supported a settlement. In 1833 Britain re-established control, and the islands developed into a small colony based on sheep farming, with Stanley as its capital. Argentina has never given up its claim to the islands, which it calls the Islas Malvinas.
In 1982 Argentine forces occupied the islands, leading to a ten-week war with the United Kingdom that cost hundreds of lives on both sides and ended with the restoration of British administration. The islands are a British Overseas Territory, while their sovereignty remains disputed between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
Today life on the islands is shaped by fishing, sheep farming, tourism and the close-knit community of their residents.
Do you have stories, photos or memories of the Falkland Islands? Share them with other members in our Local History section!