 Two Falkland Islanders in 2003 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,662 (2021) [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| English (see Falkland Islands English) | |
| Religion | |
Falkland Islanders, also called Falklanders [3] and nicknamed Kelpers, are the people of the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands.
The Islanders are British, albeit with a distinct identity of their own:
British cultural, economic, social, political and educational values create a unique British-like, Falkland Islands. Yet Islanders feel distinctly different from their fellow citizens who reside in the United Kingdom. This might have something to do with geographical isolation or with living on a smaller island – perhaps akin to those British people not feeling European.
They also see themselves as no different from other settler nations, including those of neighbouring South America:
We are as much a people as those in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile and many other South American countries whose inhabitants are of principally European, Indigenous or African descent.
"Kelpers" is a nickname given to Falkland Islanders because the islands are surrounded by large amounts of kelp. [6] [7] This term is no longer used as commonly as it once was (largely because it is considered racist and insulting by some islanders when used by Argentines). [8] [ better source needed ]
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
| Population pyramid 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | Method | Total population | Male | Female | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 1980 Census [9] | 1,813 | |||
| 1990 | CIA estimate [10] | 1,958 | |||
| 2000 | Treasury of the Falkland Islands Govt estimate [11] | 2,826 | |||
| 2006 | 2006 Census [12] | 2,955 | 1,569 | 1,386 | 1.13:1 |
| 2007 | CIA estimate [13] | 3,105 | |||
| 2012 | 2012 Census [14] | 2,931 | 1,491 | 1,349 | 1.11:1 |
| 2016 | 2016 Census [15] | 3,398 | 1,687 | 1,511 | 1.12:1 |
| 2021 | 2021 Census [1] | 3,662 | 1,847 | 1,694 | 1.1:1 |
With retrospective effect from 1 January 1983, as provided in the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, the Falkland Islanders have been full British citizens.
About 70 percent are of British descent, primarily as a result of Scottish and Welsh settlement to the islands. [16] The native-born inhabitants call themselves "Islanders"; the term "Kelpers", from the kelp which grows profusely around the islands, is still used in the Islands. People from the United Kingdom who have obtained Falkland Island status are known locally as 'belongers'. [17]
A few Islanders are of French, Gibraltarian, Portuguese, and Scandinavian descent. Some are the descendants of whalers who reached the Islands during the last two centuries. There is also a small minority of South American, mainly Chilean origin (5%), and in more recent times many people from Saint Helena (10%) and Philippines (5%) have also come to work and live in the Islands. [18]
The most predominant religion is Christianity, of which the primary denominations are Church of England, Roman Catholic, United Free Church, and Lutheran. Smaller numbers are Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and Greek Orthodox; with the latter being due to Greek fishermen passing through.[ citation needed ] There is also a congregation of the Baháʼí Faith. [19] The islands are the home of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Falkland Islands.
The official language of the islands is English. [20] The Falklands English vernacular has a fair amount of borrowed Spanish words (often modified or corrupted); they are particularly numerous, and indeed dominant, in the local horse-related terminology. For instance, the Islanders use 'alizan', 'colorao', 'negro', 'blanco', 'gotiao', 'picasso', 'sarco', 'rabincana' etc. for certain horse colours and looks, or 'bosal', 'cabresta', 'bastos', 'cinch', 'conjinilla', 'meletas', 'tientas', 'manares' etc. for various items of horse gear. [21]
Knowledge of Spanish as a foreign language is fairly widespread, as it is a compulsory subject in school, being the lingua franca in much of mainland South America. As the schools follow the English education system, European Spanish as prescribed by the Real Academia Española is taught, rather than a South American variety of the language, but Falkland Islanders may use seseo pronunciation typical of South American dialect. There is a small population of Hispanophones in the islands, consisting mostly of Chileans, and the language is also present in some place names.
There are more than 30 different sports clubs on the Falklands, including badminton, clay-pigeon shooting, cricket, football, golf, hockey, netball, rugby union, sailing, swimming, table tennis and volleyball. [22] The Falklands compete in the Commonwealth Games and in the biennial Island Games. [23] Louis Baillon is the only Falkland Islander to have become an Olympic champion, as a member of the British field hockey team which won a gold medal in 1908.
Demographic features of the population of Equatorial Guinea include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are British Overseas Territories in the south Atlantic Ocean.
The Southern Cone is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of social, economic and political geography, the Southern Cone comprises Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, and sometimes includes Brazil's four southernmost states.
Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans who claim begin of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry. Biologically, a significant majority of population in each country have african genes.
Latin Americans are the citizens of Latin American countries.
The culture of the Falkland Islands is essentially analogous to that of British culture. The Falkland Islands have a large non-native-born population, mainly white and from England, but also from Saint Helena.
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost continuously since 1833. Argentina has long disputed this claim, having been in control of the islands for a few years prior to 1833. The dispute escalated in 1982, when Argentina invaded the islands, precipitating the Falklands War.
The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 mi (480 km) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about 752 mi (1,210 km) from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, but the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley on East Falkland.
As of 2017, South America has an estimated population of 418.76 million people.
Falkland Islanders derive from various origins. Earliest among these are the numerically small but internationally diverse early 19th century inhabitants of the Falkland Islands, comprising and descended in part from settlers brought by Luis Vernet, and English and American sealers; South American gauchos who settled in the 1840s and 1850s; and since the late 1830s, settlers largely from Britain with a minority from other European countries. There has also been significant recent contributions from Saint Helena and Chile.
Falkland Islands English is the dialect of the English language spoken in the Falkland Islands. Though it is mainly British in character, as a result of the remoteness of the islands, the small population has developed and retains its own accent and dialect, which persists despite many immigrants from the United Kingdom in recent years. In rural areas, known as 'Camp', the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The dialect has resemblances to Australian, New Zealand, West Country and Norfolk dialects of English, as well as Lowland Scots.
European emigration is the successive emigration waves from the European continent to other continents. The origins of the various European diasporas can be traced to the people who left the European nation states or stateless ethnic communities on the European continent.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Falkland Islands:
Foreign relations between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have existed for over two centuries.
The British diaspora consists of people of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, Manx and Channel Islands ancestral descent who live outside of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.
Janet Robertson is an Argentine-born Falkland Islands politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Stanley constituency from 2005 until 2009. Robertson was elected as a Member of the Legislative Council, which was reconstituted into the Legislative Assembly with the implementation of the 2009 Constitution.
Alejandro Jacobo Betts was a Falklands-born Argentine air-traffic controller and activist who worked with the Argentine government as a technical advisor on the Tierra del Fuego's Malvinas Question Provincial Observatory Advisory Council. Betts supported Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands and was a controversial figure in the Falklands as a result. Betts also was the older brother of Terry Betts, who served as a member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council and assisted British forces in the Falklands War. His younger brother Peter served in the British Task Force.
Panamanians are people identified with Panama, a country in Central America, and with residential, legal, historical, or cultural connections with North America. For most Panamanians, several or all of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their Panamanian identity. Panama is a multilingual and multicultural society, home to people of many different ethnicities and religions. Therefore, many Panamanians do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Panama. The overwhelming majority of Panamanians are the product of varying degrees of admixture between European ethnic groups with native Amerindians and Black Africans.
Religion in the Falkland Islands is predominantly Christianity, of which the primary denominations are Church of England, Roman Catholic, United Free Church, Lutheran, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists among others. In the 2006 census most islanders identified themselves as Christian, followed by those who refused to answer or had no religious affiliation. The remaining 1.3 percent were adherents of other faiths.
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