kc/s, with a power of 5kw and 500 watts respectively. In 1974 there were 611 radio licence holders; the Government also operates a wired broadcasting service in Stanley which in 1974 had 315 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 inter-island radio-telephone services. Cable and Wireless Ltd assumed responsibility for all external communications as from 1st October 1974.

Following the signing by HMG and the Government of The Argentine Republic in July 1971 of a communications agreement the link to the mainland is now almost entirely through Argentina. A temporary airstrip was completed by the Argentine Air Force in Stanley in November 1972 and a weekly connection is provided by the Argentine development airline LADE using F27 aircraft, with Comodoro Rivadavia in Southern Argentina. A permanent airfield, to be built with Development Aid Funds from the United Kingdom is expected to be completed during 1976.

There is a ship on charter to the Falkland Islands Company which makes the round trip to the United Kingdom 4 or 5 times a year, touching in at Mar del Plata to pick up freight. Internal transport communications are maintained by sea with the commercially owned Monsunen, and a few small private vessels. There is also a small Government-owned air service. Travellers also 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.

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 15 per cent to 45 per cent of chargeable income. Companies pay a flat rate of 40p in the £. Arrangements have been concluded with the United Kingdom, Switzerland, 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.

*includes £80,905 loan from H.M. Government **balance of loan from H.M.G.

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 approved 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.

In 1969, a British Antarctic Survey was set up at King Edward Point, South Georgia, where there has been a Government Station since 1909. It was manned in 1974 by a wintering party of 22. The Base Commander is responsible for the local administration of the Island.

LAND POLICY

All the land in the Colony 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. 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.)

G

GIBRALTAR

IBRALTAR is a narrow peninsula running southwards from the south-west coast of Spain to which it is connected by a sandy isthmus about one mile long and half a mile wide. The name derives from the Arabic jabal Tariq (Tariq's mountain), after the Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad, who landed at or near Gibraltar in A.D.711. The territory consists of a long, high mountain known as the Rock and a sandy plain to the north of it, raised only a few feet above sea level, called the North Front. The total area of the territory is two and a quarter square miles. Five miles across the bay to the west lies the Spanish port of Algeciras and 20 miles across the Straits, to the south, is Africa. The Mediterranean lies to the east. The distance to Britain is approximately 1,400 miles by sea.

The top of the Rock is a sharp, knife-edge ridge extending for about a mile and a half from the north escarpment, which is almost inaccessible, and then sloping gradually to the south for about a mile, to terminate at the southern extremity, Europa Point, in perpendicular cliffs about a hundred feet high. Its greatest elevation is 1,396 feet. The whole upper length of the eastern face is inaccessible and the steep upper half of the western slopes is uninhabited.

The main sources of water supplies in Gibraltar are rainwater collected on the water catchments on the east side of the Rock and led into reservoirs hollowed out inside the Rock and from two distillers. One was commissioned in 1969 and produces 225,000 gallons per day and the other, which started production in 1973, produces 300,000 gallons per day. Supplies are also obtained from wells on the sandy plain to the north and by importation when rainfall falls below average.

The climate of Gibraltar is temperate. During the winter months the prevailing wind is from the west, often north-west and occasionally south-west. Snow or frost is extremely rare. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures during this period are 12°C (54°F) and 18°C (65°F) respectively.

In summer a warm breeze laden with moisture, known as the "Levanter", strikes the eastern face of the Rock, condenses in the sky above and causes a cloud pall to hang over the city and bay. During this period the climate is humid and relaxing. The minimum and maximum temperatures in the summer are 12°C (54°F) and 29°C (85°F) respectively. The rainy season is spread over the period September to May; the average annual rainfall is 35 inches.

The population of Gibraltar is European, of British, Genoese, Portuguese and Maltese extraction. During the long period of British possession of the Rock it has grown into a prosperous and homogeneous community with strong links with Britain.

The first post-war census, taken in 1951, showed a total civilian population of 22,284 which had increased to 23,926 by 1961. The next census, which was due to have been taken in 1971, was brought forward to 1970 and revealed a population of 26.833. These figures excluded visitors and transients, but do include families of Service personnel. The increase in population between 1961 and 1970 is largely accounted for by the fact that the 1970 census figure includes Moroccan temporary residents, who—since 1969-have replaced some of the Spanish frontier labour force, which in 1961 were not included in the census, because of their living in Spain and coming daily to work in Gibraltar. The estimated civilian population at the end of 1974 was 29,362. The official language is English, though the population is bilingual in English and Spanish.

The main religious denominations are Roman Catholic, who in 1970 made up 78 per cent of the population, Church of England and Jewish. The Church of England and Jewish communities represented 8 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. There are small communities of other religious denominations. There are also some 3,000 Moslems who are temporarily resident in Gibraltar for the purposes of employment.

There were 536 births and 244 deaths in 1973.

Total expenditure on Medical and Health Services during the year ending 31.3.73 was £666,578. The number of beds available in hospitals was 255 and there were 3,415 admissions during the year. Approximately 60 per cent of the male wage-earners in Gibraltar are employed in one or other of the United Kingdom Departments (i.e. Ministry of Defence and the Department of the Environment) or the Gibraltar Government. In the private sector the main sources of employment are the construction industry, hotel and catering services and retail distribution. A substantial number of clerical workers are also employed in shipping offices and trading agencies.

There are a number of small industrial concerns such as coffee roasting and blending, meat canning, and the manufacture of mineral water for local needs.