Falkland islanders choose to stay with Britain

March 15, 2013

In a referendum in which people of Falkland Islands were asked whether they wished to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, 99.8% of voters have chosen to stay as British Overseas Territory.

What is the issue?

Falkland Islands: it is an archipelago located in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The islands, a British Overseas Territory, enjoy a large degree of internal self-government with the UK guaranteeing good government and taking responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and only city is Stanley on East Falkland. Argentina calls these islands, Malvinas Islands.

There is controversy over the Falklands’ original discovery and subsequent colonization by Europeans. At various times there have been French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. Britain asserted control of the south Atlantic islands by placing a naval garrison there in 1833. Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 after Argentina invaded the islands. The war ended with the surrender of all Argentine forces and the islands went back to British administration.

Argentina claims Malvinas Islands as its territory and wants UK to relinquish it. In reply to this claim UK has said that the future of the islands should be decided by the people who live there, through referendum.

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