The history of the Falkland Islands goes back at least five hundred years, with active exploration and colonisation only taking place in the 18th century. Nonetheless, the Falkland Islands have been a matter of controversy, as they have been claimed by the French, British, Spaniards and Argentines at various points.
The Falkland Islands currently has three primary means of transport - road, sea and air. However, in 1946, when Sir Miles Clifford arrived as governor, there were no air services, no roads outside Stanley and an indifferent sea service. Sir Miles was instrumental in starting the Falkland Islands Government Air Service in December 1948. The inaugural flight involved a mercy flight from North Arm Settlement to Stanley to bring a girl with peritonitis to life-saving medical help in Stanley. There is now an international airport, a domestic airport, a number of airstrips, a growing road network and a much-improved ferry service between the two main islands.
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by the Falkland Sound. Its area is 4,532 square kilometres, 37% of the total area of the islands. Its coastline is 1,258.7 kilometres long.
Weddell Island is one of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, lying off the southwest extremity of West Falkland. It is situated 1,545 km (960 mi) west-northwest of South Georgia Island, 1,165 km (724 mi) north of Livingston Island, 606 km (377 mi) northeast of Cape Horn, 358 km (222 mi) northeast of Isla de los Estados, and 510 km (320 mi) east of the Atlantic entrance to Magellan Strait.
Saunders Island is the fourth largest of the Falkland Islands, lying north west of West Falkland. The island is run as a sheep farm.
Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands.
Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville on 5 April 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad.
The Camp is the term used in the Falkland Islands to refer to any part of the islands outside the islands' only significant town, Stanley, and often the large RAF base at Mount Pleasant. It is derived from the Spanish word campo, for "countryside".
Salvador Settlement, also called Salvador, Salvador Settlement Corral, is a small harbour and settlement on East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, It is on the north east coast, on the south shore of Port Salvador. It is one of a handful of Spanish place names on the islands, still in use.
Port Egmont was the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands, on Saunders Island off West Falkland, and is named after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of its founding.
Fox Bay is the second largest settlement on West Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is located on a bay of the same name, and is on the south east coast of the island. It is often divided into Fox Bay East ("FBE") and Fox Bay West ("FBW") making it two settlements: combined, these make the largest settlement on West Falkland, but if separated, Port Howard is the largest. Fox Bay takes its name, like the Warrah River, from the Falkland fox, an animal locally called the warrah and now extinct.
Hoste Inlet is a settlement on West Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It is on the far south west of the island, and Port Stephens is the nearest other settlement. The former settlement of Port Albemarle is just across a small isthmus.
Port Albemarle is a settlement on West Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It is in the far south of the island, on the east side, at the southern end of Falkland Sound.
Dunnose Head is a small settlement in West Falkland in Philomel Pass, Queen Charlotte Bay. It is about 50 miles (80 km) west south west of Port Howard, and does not have a proper road connection.
Stanley Harbour is a large inlet on the east coast of East Falkland island. A strait called "the Narrows" leads into Port William.
Mare Harbour, known colloquially as East Cove Port, is a small settlement on East Falkland, on Choiseul Sound. It is mostly used as a port facility and depot for RAF Mount Pleasant, as well as a deepwater port used by the Royal Navy ships patrolling the South Atlantic and Antarctica, which means that the main harbour of the islands, Stanley Harbour tends to deal with commercial transport.
Weddell Settlement is the only settlement on Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands, situated on the east coast of the island at the head of the sheltered Gull Harbour, part of Queen Charlotte Bay. It is located 12.15 kilometres (7.55 mi) northeast of Race Point, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south by west of Swan Point, 212 kilometres (132 mi) west-southwest of Stanley and 56.6 kilometres (35.2 mi) west of Fox Bay on West Falkland.
Gull Harbour is the 1.3 km wide bay indenting for 2.8 km the east coast of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands. It is entered north of Gull Point and south of Mark Point, and is centred at 51°53′56″S60°53′20″W. The principal settlement of the island, Weddell Settlement, is situated at the head of the bay. Until the mid-nineteenth century Gull Harbour was known as Great Harbour.
