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territory on 3rd March 1962 under the name of the British Antarctic Territory. There are two large islands, the East and West Falklands, and numerous smaller islands. The coastline is deeply indented and affords several good anchorages. The relief, except in Lafonia, is hilly and the maximum height above sea-level is in East Falkland where Mount Usborne rises to 2,312 feet. There are no large inland waters. Peculiar to the treeless, moorland scenery are the 'stone runs', long ‘rivers' of angular, quartzite boulders. The island of South Georgia in the Dependencies is a mass of high mountains which are covered with deep snow where they are not too precipitous, and the valleys between are filled with glaciers which in many cases descend to the sea.

The islands are in the same latitude south as London is north but apart from hours of sunshine, which are similar, there are marked climatic differences. The main feature of the Falklands' weather is the strong winds, which occur particularly in the spring. Climatic figures for Stanley are:

Mean annual temperature
Mean annual wind speed

Mean annual rainfall

Annual maximum temperature around

Annual minimum temperature around

42°F

17 knots

25 inches

70°F
22°F

The Dependencies have a rigorous climate of Antarctic character.

On 31st December 1968 the population, excluding the Dependencies, was 2,105, there being rather more males than females. With few exceptions all were of European descent and most were British. The population of the Dependencies on 31st December 1968 was 22. No whaling has taken place since 1965.

Stanley, the capital (population 1,074 at 1962 census), is the only town. In the Camp (the countryside other than Stanley) the largest settlement is at Goose Green on East Falkland where there are some 100 residents.

There are three churches in Stanley, the Cathedral of the diocese of Falkland Islands and South America, St Mary's Catholic Church and the United Free Church.

In 1967 there were 336 children receiving education. There is no secondary or higher education but arrangements exist for secondary education in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In Stanley the Government schools cater adequately for children between the ages of five and fifteen though a number stay until their sixteenth year, and in some subjects reach General Certificate of Education standard. Outside Stanley, education is carried on either in settlement schools, some of which are very small, or by itinerant teachers. A boarding school opened in 1956 at Darwin on East Falkland can accommodate 42 boarders and caters for as many day pupils as there are in the two nearby settlements. Attendance at school is compulsory in Stanley, where there are boarding or settlement schools and where itinerant teachers call. In 1968, 11 travelling teachers were employed among the 100 children outside Stanley, Darwin and settlement schools. Education is free except at Darwin Boarding School where a boarding fee of £12 a year is levied.

A competitive overseas scholarship examination is held each year, successful candidates being granted places at boarding grammar schools in Dorset and at the British Schools, Montevideo, Uruguay. Seven scholars are in England at present and two in Montevideo. Total estimated expenditure for 1969-70 is £66,284.

There is one lending library in Stanley operated by the town council with a postal service designed to bring library facilities to residents outside Stanley.

The Government has one hospital, situated in Stanley. It is modern and wellequipped, and has 32 beds for the treatment of medical, surgical, obstetric and tuberculosis cases. The Government medical department employs one senior medical officer, three medical officers (one of whom is in Stanley, one at Darwin in Lafonia and the third at Fox Bay, on West Falkland), two dental surgeons, a dental technician, a matron, three nursing sisters and up to six staff nurses.

The Government air service is used extensively for medical transport to and from Stanley. The m.v. Forrest is also at the disposal of the Medical Department for use when the weather does not permit the use of the aircraft. Total estimated expenditure on the medical department in 1969-70 is £56,898.

The Government runs a broadcasting station at Stanley operating on 536 and 3,958 kc/s, with a power of 5kW and 500 watts respectively. In 1968 there were 689 radio licence holders; the Government also operates a wired broadcasting service in Stanley which in 1968 had 355 subscribers. There is also a Government wireless station on West Falkland to which most of the farms are linked by telephone. East Falkland has telephone facilities similar to those on the West. The Government operates international and inter-island radio-telephone services. Communication between the islands and the mainland of South America is maintained by the Falkland Islands Company's vessel, R.M.S. Darwin, which runs a mail and passenger service 12 times a year to Montevideo. Internal communications are maintained by sea with the Government-owned Forrest, the Darwin and a few small private vessels. There is also a small Governmentowned air service. Travellers generally use horses or Land Rovers when moving between neighbouring settlements. The British Antarctic Survey Royal Research vessels call at South Georgia in the Dependencies during the southern summer. There are no roads except in Stanley, although unsurfaced tracks connect most settlements on the main East and West Islands and travel is possible by means of Land Rover or motor-cycles, depending on weather conditions. There is no inland waterway or rail service.

Agriculture is limited to a very small acreage of oats grown for hay, while householders in Stanley and the Camp grow their own vegetables. There are no minerals and no manufacturing industries of note. The East and West Falklands are given over almost completely to sheep farming and the principal product is wool.

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The chief imports are provisions, alcoholic beverages, timber, clothing and hardware.

Direct taxation is in the form of income tax, individuals paying a graduated tax ranging from 1s. in every £ of the first £100 of taxable income to 5s. 9d. in every £ exceeding £2,350. Companies pay a flat rate of 5s. 9d. in the £. A profits tax, levied at 4s. in the £ for incorporated bodies and 3s. for unincorporated bodies is payable in addition to income tax but is subject to a rebate or investment allowance of up to 50 per cent. Arrangements have been concluded with

the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the United States of America for the avoidance of double taxation. There is no general customs tariff and import duties are confined to spirits, beer, tobacco and matches.

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The Falklands are said to have been discovered by Davis in 1592 and may have been sighted by Hawkins in 1594. On the other hand it is claimed by some historians that Vespucci sighted the Falklands in 1502. In 1764 de Bougainville established a small French settlement at Port Louis in the East Falkland which was handed over to Spain in 1767 on the payment of a sum said to have amounted to £24,000. In 1765 Captain Byron took possession of the West Falkland and left a small garrison at Port Egmont on Saunders Island, whence it was driven out by the Spaniards in 1770. This action on the part of Spain brought that country and Britain to the verge of war. The Spaniards restored the settlement to the British in 1771, but it was abandoned in 1774. The Spaniards also abandoned their settlement at Soledad (Port Louis) in the early nineteenth century.

In 1828 the Buenos Aires Government established a settlement at Soledad which was destroyed in 1831 by the U.S. warship Lexington as a reprisal for interference with American sealers.

In 1833 the occupation of the islands was resumed by the British Government. In 1841 a civil Lieutenant-Governor was appointed, who took over the following year from the naval officer then in charge of the islands. In 1843 an Act of Parliament placed the civil administration on a permanent footing and the Lieutenant-Governor's title was changed to Governor. In 1844, following a decision taken the previous year, the seat of government was removed from Port Louis to Port William, where the settlement was named Stanley.

A grant-in-aid was appoved in 1841 and continued until 1880. A grant-in-aid for a mail service continued until 1884-85, since when the territory has been self-supporting. The development of the islands has been closely linked with the growth of the Falkland Islands Company, the largest landowner and trading company, formed in 1851.

Of the Dependencies, South Georgia was probably discovered by the London merchant de la Roche in 1675 and formally annexed in 1775 by Captain Cook, who in the same year discovered and took possession of the South Sandwich group.

A British Antarctic Survey Base has been set up at King Edward Point, South Georgia, where there has been a Government Station since 1909 and the Base Leader is responsible for the local administration of the Island.

LAND POLICY

All the land is held freehold and mostly by a very few large farms. Certain areas are Crown reserves.

CONSTITUTION

The Government is administered by a Governor aided by an Executive Council which is composed of two ex-officio members, two unofficial members appointed by the Governor and two elected members of the Legislative Council elected by that Council's elected and independent members, and a Legislative Council composed of two ex-officio members, two nominated independent members and four elected members. There is a town council for Stanley. A Court of Appeal was set up on 1st July 1965, to hear and determine appeals from the courts of the Falkland Islands and the Dependencies.

HISTORICAL LIST OF GOVERNORS

(From 1833 to 1842 the Settlement was in charge of a serving naval officer.)

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CAWKELL, M. B. R., MALING, D. H. and CAWKELL, E. M. The Falkland
Islands. Macmillan, 1960.

FISHER, Margery and FISHER, J. Shackleton. Barrie, 1957.

LANSING, A. Shackleton's Valiant Voyage. University of London Press, 1963.
SUTTON, G. Glacier Isle: the official account of the British South Georgia
Expedition 1954-55. Chatto and Windus, 1957.
Falkland Islands Journals 1967-69.

F

FIJI

IJI has a total area of approximately 7,055 square miles and comprises 844 islands and islets including numerous atolls and reefs. About 100 islands are permanently inhabited but many more are used by Fijians for planting food crops or as temporary residences during the turtle fishing season. The largest islands are Viti Levu, 4,010 square miles, and Vanua Levu 2,137 square miles. The main archipelago lies between latitudes 15° and 22° South and longitudes 175° East and 177° West. The island of Rotuma (17 square miles) and its dependencies were added to the territory in 1881 and are geographically separate. They lie between latitudes 12° and 15° South and longitudes 175° and 180° East.

Suva, the capital and chief port, is 1,317 miles by air from Auckland, 1,960 from Sydney, 3,183 from Honolulu and 5,611 miles from San Francisco.

With the exception of the islands of Kadavu and of the Koro Sea, the islands of Fiji rise from two submerged platforms. The western platform is the broader and from it rise the islands of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kadavu, and the Lomaiviti and Yasawa groups. The numerous islands of the Lau group are scattered across more than 44,000 square miles, and are based on the elongated and narrower eastern platform. The two platforms are joined by a narrow ridge

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