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| Independence Year : Population : 2000 Life Expectancy : 0.0 Capital : 763 GNP : 0.00 GNP Old : 0.00 Local Name : Falkland Islands Government Form : Dependent Territory of the UK Location : Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of southern Argentina Terrain : rocky, hilly, mountainous with some boggy, undulating plains Climate : cold marine; strong westerly winds, cloudy, humid; rain occurs on more than half of days in year Ethnic Group : British Religions : primarily Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Free Church, Evangelist Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheran, Seventh-Day Adventis Official Website :www.visitorfalklands.com | 
Genral Information - Falkland Islands
History
The isles have been conquered, abandoned, reconquered and envied in successive occupations by the French, Spanish, Argentinians and English up to the war of 1982.
They were discovered by the English navigator, John Davis in 1592 but not explored until 1690 by another Englishman, John Strong. The isles were not inhabited until 1764 when some French sailors from St-Malo first colonised them, hence the French name of “Malouines”. They were thrown out of the islands in 1766 by the Spanish who were already masters of most of South America. In addition to the Spanish implantation, a British colony had already been established on part of the western isle in 1765 without suspecting that the French were living on the eastern isle. In 1774 the English left the islands, for financial reasons, to the Spanish who were in charge of the archipelago until 1811 which was the beginning of the revolution of South America countries. At this agitated time Spain left the Isles which became then officially no man's land. In 1820 Argentina, no longer under Spanish domination set up a colony and a governor in the Falklands.
Geography
The Falkland Islands are situated in the South Atlantic 480 km from the South American continent and 14’000 km from London.
The geographic situation of the isles makes them an ideal base for the exploration of the Antarctic, 1’200 km away. The two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland are surrounded by 700 islet and rocks amounting to a total surface area of 12’173 km2 which is about the same as that of Northern Ireland. The isles cover a region of 257 km in length (East-West) by 136 km in width (North-South). The coasts are extremely indented and provide numerous anchoring places for boats. Sheltered creeks, long beaches of white sand and steep cliffs offer visitors very varied panoramas. The land is basically made up of meadows and moors. Numerous streams, ponds and lakes, most of which are not very deep, give life to a dry and rather forbidding countryside. Topographically speaking, the isles are generally cut by valleys with the highest point being Mount Usborne, at 705 metres, on the eastern isle and Mount Adam at 700 metres height, on the western isle. The slopes are often covered with fields of stones probably due to the collapsing of mountain summits, thousands of years ago. The presence of strange stone “rivers” in certain parts is still today a mystery |
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