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Falkland Islands

1655

Country codes:FK

Introduction

b. ^ The majority are of British origin.

c. ^ Fixed to the Pound sterling (GBP).

The Falkland Islands (pronounced /ˈfɔːklənd/; Spanish: Islas Malvinas) are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about 250 nautical miles (290 mi; 460 km) from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland. It is an internally self-governing British Overseas Territory, with the United Kingdom responsible for defence and foreign affairs.

Ever since the re-establishment of British rule in 1833, Argentina has claimed sovereignty. In pursuit of this claim, which is rejected by the islanders, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982. This precipitated the two-month-long undeclared Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom and resulted in the defeat and withdrawal of the Argentine forces. It is currently on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Since the war, there has been strong economic growth in both fisheries and tourism.

Inforamtion above from the Wikipedia article Falkland Islands, licensed under CC-BY-SA full list of contributors here.

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