The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean between 51°S and 53°S on a projection of the Patagonian Shelf, part of the South American continental shelf. In ancient geological time this shelf was part of Gondwana, and around 400 million years ago split from what is now Africa and drifted westwards from it. Today the islands are subjected to the Roaring Forties, winds that shape both their geography and climate.
East Falkland is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of 6,605 km2 or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as Lafonia; it is joined by a narrow isthmus where the settlement of Goose Green is located, and it was the scene of the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War.
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.
Staats Island is an uninhabited island of the Beaver Island Group in the Falkland Islands. It lies between Beaver Island and Weddell Island, parallel to Tea Island and is 500 hectares in area.
Beaver Island is one of the Beaver Island group of Falkland Islands. It lies west of Weddell Island and south of New Island and has an area of 4,856 hectares.
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".
The South American gray fox, also known as the Patagonian fox, the chilla or zorro gris, is a South American species of Lycalopex in the Canidae family, which includes dogs, wolves, jackals, coyotes and foxes, among other canids. It is endemic to the southern parts of Argentina and Chile, primarily Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego.
The wildlife of the Falkland Islands is quite similar to that of Patagonia. The Falkland Islands have no native reptiles or amphibians, and the only native land mammal, the warrah, is now extinct. However, a large number of bird species have been seen around the islands, and many of them breed on the smaller islands of the archipelago. Insects play a large role in the ecosystem of the islands, and over 200 species have been recorded. The waters around the Falkland Islands sustain many animals, including a large number of marine mammals. Three pinniped species breed on the islands.
Matthew Brisbane was a Scottish mariner, sealer and notable figure in the early history of the Falkland Islands.
Bertha's Beach Important Bird Area comprises 3,300 hectares of coastal wetlands at the entrance to Choiseul Sound, on the east coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It lies about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south-east of Mount Pleasant Airport and 40 km south-west of Stanley. It has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its significancer for a variety of migratory waders and other waterbirds. Overlapping it is the 4000 ha Bertha's Beach Ramsar site, recognising it as a wetland of international importance.
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.
Mount Weddell is the summit of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands. The mountain rises to 383 metres (1,257 ft) and is situated 8 km northeast of Race Point, 9.8 km east of Pillar Bluff, 4.35 km southwest of Weddell Settlement and 4.6 km west-northwest of Circum Peak.
Weddell Point is the point on the east side of Tea Island Passage forming the south side of the entrance to Skull Bay on the west coast of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands. The point is located at 51°54′10″S61°08′03″W, which is 13.2 km northwest of Race Point, 1.1 km southeast of Tea Island and 1.5 km south of Skull Bay Island.
Governor Island is an uninhabited island of the Beaver Island Group in the Falkland Islands. It lies between Beaver Island and Weddell Island, north of Staats Island and is 220 hectares in area.
Sea Dog Island is an uninhabited island lying off West Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies west by south of Race Point on Weddell Island and northwest of Cape Orford on West Falkland. The island is a designated National Nature Reserve.
Quaker Harbour is the irregularly shaped bay indenting for 3.7 km the north coast of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands. It is centred at 51°49′00″S61°04′35″W, and has its head fed by Pitt Creek. The bay takes its name from nearby Quaker Island.
Circum Peak is a mountain rising to 198 m (650 ft) in the southeast part of Weddell Island in the Falkland Islands. It is located at, which is 2.12 km (1.32 mi) southeast of Mount Weddell, and surmounts New Year Cove to the southeast and Gull Harbour to the northeast.
John Hamilton was a Scottish farmer known for pioneering sheep farming in southern Patagonia and his stewardship of rural properties in the Falkland Islands. Hamilton was a native of Caithness where his father was a tailor. In 1888 he participated in the Gran arreo. In the early 1900s Hamilton,Thomas Saunders and Bevil Molesworth formed Sociedad Pastoril de Glencross, legally inscribed in Valparaíso, to administer their lands in the middle course of Gallegos River. In total Sociedad Pastoril de Glencross owned 160,500 ha. With Sounders he also owned The Patagonian Land and State Company. In the 1920s and 1930 he purchased a series of islands around West Falkland including Weddell Island, Passage Islands, and Saunders Island. John Hamilton administered these islands in an unusual way for the time, reducing sheep numbers, he introduced pasture rotation, replanting of native tussac grass, introduced Cupressus macrocarpa as windbreaks and attempted afforestation. From Patagonia he imported guanacos whose descendants numbered about 400 in 2003 in on Staats Island. However, Hamilton's introduction of gray foxes from Patagonia to some of his and his associates islands proved ecologically disastrous.
