20 THINGS ABOUT THE FALKLAND ISLANDS (A.K.A. ISLAS MALVINAS)

1. The Falkland archipelago is at the southern tip of South America, nearly 500 kilometres off the east coast of South America.

2. The Falklands consist of two main islands (East and West) and 776 smaller islands.

3. There are 3,398 residents, according to the 2016 census. The majority are island-born, descendants of British and Scottish settlers.

4. There are an estimated 500,000 sheep.

5. There is only one town — the capital, Stanley.

6. It has its own currency — the Falklands pound — which is worth the same as the British pound sterling.

7. The Falklands, as well as the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, are self-governing British overseas territories that first came under British control in 1841.

8. The islands are as close to the South Pole as London is to the North Pole.

9. The islands were uninhabited until 1764 when French captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville established Port Louis on East Falkland. In 1766, British captain John MacBride established Port Egmont on Saunders Island.

10. The territorial waters of the Falklands extend 370 kilometres from its coastal baselines, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; this border overlaps with the maritime boundary of Argentina.

11. Both Britain and Argentina claim the islands. In April 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falklands as well as South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.

12. The 1982 Falklands War lasted 74 days and ended with Argentina surrendering on June 14, 1982. During the conflict, 649 Argentinians, 255 Brits and three Falkland Islanders died.

13. There are still landmines on the islands from the 1982 war.

14. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 per cent of voters favoured remaining under British rule. Because Argentina doesn’t recognize the islanders themselves as partners in sovereignty discussions, it dismissed the referendum as irrelevant.

15. The islands only native terrestrial mammal — a species of wolf called the warrah — was hunted to extinction by European settlers.

16. The Falklands are home to an estimated half a million penguins.

17. There are five penguin species (including the wonderful, crested Macaroni variety).

18. The islands also have some of the largest albatross colonies on the planet.

19. The only trees on the islands were imported.

20. Islanders had no internet service until 1997, and no cellphones until 2005. Sources: Wikipedia, Business Insider