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) , anthem = " God Save the King"
, song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, mapsize = 255px , subdivision_type =
Sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...
, subdivision_name = , established_title2 = Separation from Falkland Islands , established_date2 = 3 October 1985 , official_languages =
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
, demonym = , capital =
King Edward Point King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumber ...
, coordinates = , largest_settlement = capital , largest_settlement_type = largest settlement , ethnic_groups = , ethnic_groups_year = , government_type = Directly administered dependency under a
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
, leader_title1 = Monarch , leader_name1 =
Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person ...
, leader_title2 = Commissioner , leader_name2 =
Alison Blake Alison Mary Blake is a British diplomat who is currently serving as Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. She previously served as High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador t ...
, national_representation =
Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...
, national_representation_type1 = Minister , national_representation1 = Zac Goldsmith , area_km2 = 3,903 , area_rank = not ranked , area_sq_mi = 1,507 , elevation_max_m = , percent_water = , population_estimate = , population_census = , population_estimate_year = , population_estimate_rank = , population_census_year = , population_density_km2 = , population_density_sq_mi = , population_density_rank = , GDP_PPP_rank = , GDP_PPP_per_capita = , GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = , GDP_nominal = , GDP_nominal_year = , Gini = , Gini_year = , Gini_change = , Gini_ref = , Gini_rank = , HDI = , HDI_year = , HDI_change = , HDI_ref = , HDI_rank = , currency = Falkland Islands pound (£) , currency_code = FKP , timezone = , utc_offset = −02:00 , date_format = dd/mm/yyyy , drives_on = left , calling_code = +500 , postal_code_type =
UK postcode Postal codes used in the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies are known as postcodes (originally, postal codes). They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been dev ...
, postal_code = SIQQ 1xx , iso_code = GS , cctld =
.gs .gs is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. .gs is a member of CoCCA, a group of country-code domains making use of common registry and/or dispute resolution services. .gs is a ...
, website=https://www.gov.gs/ South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is long and wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about southeast of South Georgia. The territory's total land area is . The
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
are about west from its nearest point. The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, and a very small non-permanent population resides on South Georgia. There are no scheduled passenger flights or ferries to or from the territory, although visits by cruise liners to South Georgia are increasingly popular, with several thousand visitors each summer. The United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over South Georgia in 1775 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1908. The territory of "South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands" was formed in 1985; previously, it had been governed as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies.
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
claimed South Georgia in 1927 and claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938. Argentina maintained a naval station, Corbeta Uruguay, on Thule Island in the South Sandwich Islands from 1976 until 1982 when it was closed by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
. The Argentine claim over South Georgia contributed to the 1982 Falklands War, during which Argentine forces briefly occupied the island. Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as part of the Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province.
Toothfish ''Dissostichus'', the toothfish, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefish. These fish are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Toothfish are marketed in the United States as Chilea ...
are vital to the islands' economy; as a result, Toothfish Day is celebrated on 4 September as a bank holiday in the territory.


History


South Georgia


17th to 19th centuries

The island of South Georgia was first sighted in 1675 by Anthony de la Roché, a London merchant and (despite his French name) an Englishman. The island appeared as ''Roche Island'' on early maps. The commercial Spanish ship ''León'', operating out of
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...
sighted it on 28 June or 29 June 1756. James Cook circumnavigated the island in 1775 and made the first landing. He claimed the territory for the
Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...
, naming it the "Isle of Georgia" in honour of King George III of the United Kingdom. British arrangements for the government of South Georgia were established under 1843 British letters patent. In 1882–1883 a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
expedition for the first
International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred i ...
set up its base at
Royal Bay Royal Bay is a bay, wide and indenting , entered between Cape Charlotte and Cape Harcourt along the north coast of South Georgia. Like other parts of the archipelago, many birds breed here, including king penguins, gentoo penguins, and blue ...
on the southeast side of the island. The scientists of this group observed the transit of Venus and recorded waves produced by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. Seal hunting at South Georgia began in 1786 and continued throughout the 19th century. The waters proved treacherous and a number of vessels were wrecked there, such as , in late-1801.


20th and 21st centuries

South Georgia became a base for whaling beginning in the 20th century. A Norwegian,
Carl Anton Larsen Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924) was a Norwegian-born whaler and Antarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica, the most significant being the first discovery of fossils for which ...
, established the first land-based whaling station and first permanent habitation at
Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a settlement on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the best ...
in 1904. It operated through his
Argentine Fishing Company Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
, which settled in Grytviken. The station operated until 1965.
Whaling station Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...
s operated under leases granted by the Governor of the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
. The seven stations, all on the north coast with its sheltered harbours, were, from the west to east: #
Prince Olav Harbour Prince Olav Harbour is a small harbour in the south west portion of Cook Bay, entered between Point Abrahamsen and Sheep Point, along the north coast of South Georgia. Background Throughout the 19th century, South Georgia was a sealers' base ...
#
Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest o ...
#
Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...
#
Husvik Husvik is a former whaling station on the north-central coast of South Georgia Island. It was one of three such stations in Stromness Bay, the other two being Stromness and Leith Harbour. Husvik initially began as a floating, offshore factory si ...
#
Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a settlement on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the best ...
# Godthul #
Ocean Harbour Ocean Harbour ( es, Puerto Nueva Fortuna) is a deeply indented bay on Barff Peninsula on the north coast of South Georgia which is entered west-northwest of Tijuca point. It was a whaling station between 1909 and 1920. At one point, South Geor ...
The whaling stations' tryworks were unpleasant and dangerous places to work. One was called "a charnel house boiling wholesale in Vaseline" by an early 20th-century visitor. Tim Flannery wrote that its "putrid vapors esembledthe pong of bad fish, manure, and a tanning works mixed together", and noted one bizarre peril: "A rotting whale could fill with gas to bursting, ejecting a fetus the size of a motor vehicle with sufficient force to kill a man." With the end of the whaling industry, the stations were abandoned. Apart from a few preserved buildings such as the South Georgia Museum and Norwegian Lutheran Church at Grytviken, only their decaying remains survive. From 1905, the Argentine Meteorological Office cooperated in maintaining a meteorological observatory at Grytviken under the British lease requirements of the whaling station until these changed in 1949. In 1908, the United Kingdom issued further letters patent that established constitutional arrangements for its possessions in the South Atlantic. The letters covered South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the
South Shetlands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
, the South Sandwich Islands, and Graham Land. The claim was extended in 1917 to include a sector of Antarctica reaching to the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. In 1909, an administrative centre and residence were established at King Edward Point on South Georgia, near the whaling station of Grytviken. A permanent local British administration and resident magistrate exercised effective possession, enforcement of British law, and regulation of all economic, scientific, and other activities in the territory, which was then governed as the Falkland Islands Dependencies. In about 1912, what is according to some accounts the largest whale ever caught, a
blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...
of , was landed at Grytviken. In April 1916,
Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...
's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition became stranded on Elephant Island, some southwest of South Georgia. Shackleton and five companions set out in a small boat to summon help, and on 10 May, after an epic voyage, they landed at King Haakon Bay on South Georgia's south coast. While three stayed at the coast, Shackleton and the two others, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley, went on to cover over the spine of the mountainous island to reach help at
Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...
whaling station. The remaining 22 members of the expedition, who had stayed on Elephant Island, were subsequently rescued. In January 1922, during a later expedition, Shackleton died on board ship while moored in King Edward Cove, South Georgia. He is buried at Grytviken. The ashes of another noted Antarctic explorer, Frank Wild, who had been Shackleton's second-in-command on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, were interred next to Shackleton in 2011. Argentina claimed South Georgia in 1927. The basis of this claim and of a later claim in 1938 to the South Sandwich Islands has been questioned. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the Royal Navy deployed an armed merchant vessel to patrol South Georgian and Antarctic waters against German raiders, along with two four-inch shore guns (still present) protecting Cumberland Bay and Stromness Bay, which were operated by volunteers from among the Norwegian whalers. The base at King Edward Point was expanded as a research facility in 1949–1950 by the British Antarctic Survey, which until 1962 was called the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. The Falklands War was precipitated on 19 March 1982 when a group of Argentinians (most of them
Argentine Marines The Naval Infantry Command ( es, Comando de la Infantería de Marina, COIM), also known as the Naval Infantry of the Navy of the Argentine Republic ( es, Infantería de Marina de la Armada de la República Argentina, IMARA) and generally referred ...
in ''mufti''), posing as scrap-metal merchants, occupied the abandoned whaling station at
Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest o ...
on South Georgia. On 3 April, Argentine troops attacked and occupied Grytviken. Among the commanding officers of the Argentine garrison was
Alfredo Astiz Alfredo Ignacio Astiz (born 8 November 1951) is an Argentine former military commander, intelligence officer, and naval commando who served in the Argentine Navy during the military dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla during the Proceso de Reorg ...
, a captain in the Argentine Navy who was convicted years later of crimes against humanity committed during the
Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...
in Argentina. The island was recaptured by British forces on 25 April, in
Operation Paraquet Operation Paraquet was the code name for the British military operation to recapture the island of South Georgia from Argentine military control in April 1982 at the start of the Falklands War. The operation, a subsidiary of the main Operation ...
. In 1985, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ceased to be administered as a Falkland Islands Dependency and became a separate territory. The
King Edward Point King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumber ...
base, which had become a small military garrison after the Falklands War, returned to civilian use in 2001 and is now operated by the British Antarctic Survey.


South Sandwich Islands

Captain James Cook discovered the southern eight islands of the Sandwich Islands Group in 1775, although he lumped the southernmost three together, and their status as separate islands was not established until 1820 by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. The northern three islands were discovered by Bellingshausen in 1819. The islands were tentatively named "Sandwich Land" by Cook, although he also commented that they might be a group of islands rather than a single body of land. The name was chosen in honour of
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his lif ...
, who was First Lord of the Admiralty. The word "South" was later added to distinguish them from the "Sandwich Islands", now known as the Hawaiian Islands. Argentina claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938, and challenged British sovereignty in the Islands on several occasions. From 25 January 1955 to mid-1956, Argentina maintained the summer station Teniente Esquivel at Ferguson Bay on the southeastern coast of Thule Island. Argentina maintained a naval base ( Corbeta Uruguay) from 1976 to 1982, in the lee (southern east coast) of the same island. Although the British discovered the presence of the Argentine base in 1976, protested and tried to resolve the issue by diplomatic means, no effort was made to remove them by force until after the Falklands War. The base was removed on 20 June 1982.


Geography

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are a collection of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. Most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous. At higher elevations, the islands are permanently covered with ice and snow.


South Georgia Group

The South Georgia Group lies about east-southeast of the Falkland Islands, at 54°–55°S, 36°–38°W. It comprises South Georgia Island itself, by far the largest island in the territory, and the islands that immediately surround it and some remote and isolated islets to the west and east-southeast. It has a total land area of , including satellite islands, but excluding the South Sandwich Islands which form a separate island group.


Islands within the South Georgia Group

South Georgia Island lies at and has an area of . It is mountainous and largely barren. Eleven peaks rise to over high, their slopes furrowed with deep gorges filled with glaciers; the largest is
Fortuna Glacier Fortuna Glacier is a tidewater glacier at the mouth of Cumberland Bay on the island of South Georgia. It flows in a northeast direction to its terminus just west of Cape Best, with an eastern distributary almost reaching the west side of Fortu ...
. The highest peak is Mount Paget in the Allardyce Range at . Geologically, the island consists of gneiss and
argillaceous schist Argillaceous schist is metamorphic rock which exhibits fine laminations of clay materials. Its protolith is argillite :''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.'' Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantl ...
s with occasional tuffs and other sedimentary layers from which fossils have been recovered. The island is a fragment of some greater land-mass now vanished and was probably a former extension of the Andean system. Smaller islands and islets off the coast of South Georgia Island include: *
Annenkov Island Annenkov Island is to the west of the main island of South Georgia. The Pickersgill Islands are to its southeast. It is irregularly shaped and long and high, lying off the south-central coast of South Georgia. History The island was discov ...
* Bird Island *
Cooper Island Cooper Island is a small island, long, which lies at the north side of the entrance to Drygalski Fjord, off the southeast end of South Georgia. It was discovered by a British expedition under James Cook in 1775, and named for Lieutenant Robert ...
* Grass Island *
Jomfruene Jomfruene () is a group of three small tussock-covered islands and a number of barren rocks, lying west-northwest of Cape Paryadin, South Georgia. The position and number of these islands have been approximated on charts for years. In 1951–52, ...
*
Pickersgill Islands The Pickersgill Islands () are a small archipelago to the west of the main island of South Georgia. They are southeast of Annenkov Island and west-southwest of Leon Head, South Georgia. History of Name Annenkov Island was discovered in Janua ...
*
Trinity Island Trinity Island or Île de la Trinité or Isla Trinidad is an island long and wide in the northern part of the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica. It lies east of Hoseason Island, south of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, and ...
*
Welcome Islands The Welcome Islands ( es, Islas Bienvenido) are a small rocky archipelago to the north of the main island of South Georgia. They are to the east of Bird Island. They are west-northwest of Cape Buller, off the north coast of South Georgia. Th ...
* Willis Islands These remote rocks are also considered part of the South Georgia Group: * Shag Rocks, west-northwest of South Georgia Island * Black Rock, west-northwest of South Georgia Island *
Clerke Rocks The Clerke Rocks are a group of small rocky islands some southeast of South Georgia that extend from east to west. The Clerke Rocks include The Office Boys () at the northeastern end and Nobby (Spanish: ''Islote Llamativo'' or ''Roca Notable' ...
, east-southeast of South Georgia Island


South Sandwich Islands

The South Sandwich Islands ( es, Islas Sandwich del Sur) comprise 11 mostly
volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...
islands (excluding tiny satellite islands and offshore rocks), with some active volcanoes. They form an island arc running north–south in the region 56°18'–59°27'S, 26°23'–28°08'W, between about southeast of South Georgia. The northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands form the
Traversay Islands The Traversay Islands ( es, Archipiélago Marqués de Traverse) are a group of three islands— Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi—at the northern end of the South Sandwich Islands. History The group was discovered in November 1819 by a Russian ...
and
Candlemas Islands The Candlemas Islands ( es, Islas Candelaria) are a group of small uninhabited islands lying at the northern part of the South Sandwich Islands, southeast of Visokoi Island. They consist of Candlemas Island and Vindication Island, divided by ...
groups, while the southernmost make up Southern Thule. The three largest islands Saunders, Montagu, and
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
lie between the two. The Islands' highest point is Mount Belinda () on Montagu Island. The fourth highest peak,
Mount Michael Mount Michael ( es, Monte Miguel) is an active volcanic mountain, 843 m, surmounting Saunders Island in the South Sandwich Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the few volcanoes in an overseas terr ...
() on Saunders Island has a persistent
lava lake Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified (someti ...
, known to occur at only eight volcanoes in the world. The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, though a permanently staffed Argentine research station was located on Thule Island from 1976 to 1982 (for details, see above). Automatic weather stations are on Thule Island and Zavodovski. To the northwest of Zavodovski Island is the
Protector Shoal Protector Shoal is a submarine volcano, also called seamount, which rises gently from an ocean depth of to about below sea level approximately NW of Zavodovski Island in the South Sandwich Islands chain. The last eruption occurred during M ...
, a submarine volcano. The South Sandwich Islands from north to south are: A series of six passages separates each of the islands or island groups in the chain. They are, from north to south: Zavodovski Isl., ''Traverse passage'', Visokoi Isl., ''Brown's passage'', Candlemas Isl., ''Shackleton's passage'', Saunders Isl., ''Larsen's passage'', Montagu Isl., Biscoe's passage, Bristol Isl.,
Forsters Passage Forsters Passage ( es, Pasaje Forster) () is a body of water between Bristol Island and Southern Thule in the South Sandwich Islands. In 1775, a British expedition under James Cook gave the name "Forster's Bay", after John R. Forster, a natura ...
, Southern Thule. Nelson Channel is the passage between Candlemas and Vindication Island.


Extreme points

* Northernmost point – Cape North * Southernmost point – on Cook Island * Westernmost point – on Main Island (of the Willis Islands) * Easternmost point – on Montagu Island * Highest point – Mount Paget: 2,934 m * Lowest point – Atlantic Ocean: 0


Climate

The climate is classified as polar, and the weather is highly variable and harsh; making a tundra ( ET) in
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
. Typical daily maximum temperatures in South Georgia at sea level are around in winter (August) and in summer (January). Winter minimum temperatures are typically about and rarely dip below . Annual precipitation in South Georgia is about , much of which falls as sleet or snow, which is possible the entire year. Inland, the snow line in summer is at an altitude of about . Westerly winds blow throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm—indeed, in 1963, 25% of winds were in the calm category at King Edward Point, and the mean wind speed of around is around half that of the Falkland Islands. This gives the eastern side of South Georgia (leeward side) a more pleasant climate than the exposed western side. The prevailing weather conditions generally make the islands difficult to approach by ship, though the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays which provide good anchorage. Sunshine, as with many South Atlantic Islands, is low, at a maximum of just 21.5%. This amounts to around 1,000 hours of sunshine annually. The local
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
, however, also contributes significantly to the low insolation. A study published during the early 1960s indicated that sunshine recording instruments remained significantly obscured throughout the year and entirely obscured during June. It was estimated that the theoretical sunshine exposure minus obstructions would be around 14% at Bird Island and 35% at King Edward Pointor, in hourly terms, ranging from around 650 hours in the west to 1,500 hours in the east. This illustrates the effect the Allardyce Range has in breaking up cloud cover. Mountain winds rise over the western slopes of the mountains of South Georgia and down the eastern side and become much warmer and drier due to the
Föhn effect A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of i ...
; this produces the most pleasant conditions when temperatures can occasionally rise to over on summer days. The highest temperature recorded at the King Edward Point meteorological station (often generically and less accurately called Grytviken) on the sheltered eastern side of South Georgia is . Conversely, the highest recorded temperature at Bird Island on the windward western side is a mere . As one might expect, the sheltered eastern side can also record lower winter temperatures—the absolute minimum temperature for King Edward Point is , but Bird Island just . The seas surrounding South Georgia are cold throughout the year due to the proximity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. They usually remain free of pack ice in winter, though thin ice may form in sheltered bays, and icebergs are common. Sea temperatures drop to in late August and rise to around only in early April. The South Sandwich Islands are much colder than South Georgia, being farther south and more exposed to cold outbreaks from the Antarctic continent. They are also surrounded by sea ice from the middle of May to late November (even longer at their southern end). Recorded temperature extremes at South Thule Island have ranged from .


Government

Executive power is vested in the monarch of the United Kingdom and is exercised by the Commissioner, a post held by the Governor of the Falkland Islands. The current Commissioner is
Alison Blake Alison Mary Blake is a British diplomat who is currently serving as Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. She previously served as High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador t ...
, who took the post on 1 July 2022. The executive, based in Stanley, Falkland Islands, made up of a Chief Executive, three Directors, two managers, and a Business Support Officer. The Financial Secretary and Attorney General of the territory are appointed ''ex officio'' similar appointments in the Falkland Islands' government. On the island itself, Government Officers manage vessel visits, fishing and tourism, and represent the government 'on the ground'. A summer Deputy Postmaster runs the Post Office at Grytviken during the tourism season. As no permanent inhabitants live on the islands, no legislative council and no elections are needed. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) manages the foreign relations of the territory. Since 1982, the territory celebrates Liberation Day on 25 April. The constitution of the territory (adopted 3 October 1985), the manner in which its government is directed and the availability of judicial review were discussed in a series of litigations between 2001 and 2005 (see, in particular, ''Regina v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Appellant) ex parte Quark Fishing Limited'' 005UKHL 57). Although its government is directed by the FCDO, it was held that, since it was acting as an agent of
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
in right of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands rather than in right of the UK, its decisions under that direction could not be challenged as if they were in law decisions of a UK government department; thus the European Convention on Human Rights did not apply.


Economy

Commercial sealing occurred on the islands between 1817 and 1909. During that period 20 visits are recorded by sealing vessels. Economic activity in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is limited. The territory has revenues of £6.3 million, 80% of which is derived from fishing licences (2020 figures). Other sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps and coins, tourism, and customs and harbour dues.


Fishing

Fishing takes place around South Georgia and in adjacent waters in some months of the year, with fishing licences sold by the territory for Patagonian toothfish, cod icefish and krill. Fishing licences bring in millions of pounds a year, most of which is spent on fishery protection and research. All fisheries are regulated and managed in accordance with the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) system. In 2001 the South Georgia government was cited by the
Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a t ...
for its sustainable Patagonian toothfish fishery, certifying that South Georgia met the MSC's environmental standards. The certificate places limits on the timing and quantity of Patagonian toothfish that may be caught.


Tourism

Tourism has become a larger source of income in recent years, with many cruise ships and sailing yachts visiting the area (the only way to visit South Georgia is by sea; there are no airstrips on the Islands). The territory gains income from landing charges and the sale of souvenirs.
Cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
s often combine a Grytviken visit with a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula. Charter yacht visits usually begin in the Falkland Islands, last between four and six weeks, and enable guests to visit remote harbours of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Sailing vessels are now required to anchor out and can no longer tie up to the old whaling piers on shore. One exception to this is the recently upgraded/repaired yacht berth at Grytviken. All other jetties at former whaling stations lie inside a exclusion zone; and berthing, or putting ropes ashore, at these is forbidden. Yachts visiting South Georgia are normally expected to report to the Government Officers at King Edward Point before moving round the island.


Postage stamps

A large source of income from abroad also comes from the issue of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands postage stamps which are produced in the UK. A reasonable issue policy (few sets of stamps are issued each year) along with attractive subject matter (especially whales) makes them popular with topical stamp collectors. There are only four genuine first day cover sets from 16 March 1982 in existence. They were stamped at the South Georgia Post Office; all those in circulation were stamped elsewhere and sent out, but the only genuine ones were kept at the Post Office on South Georgia. These four sets were removed during the Falklands War by a member of staff of the British Antarctic Survey in the few moments the Argentinians allowed them to gather their belongings. Everything else was burnt, but these four sets were saved and brought to the UK by Robert Headland, BAS.


Currency

The
pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
is the official currency of the islands, and the same notes and coins are used as in the United Kingdom.


Internet domain registration

The
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is
.gs .gs is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. .gs is a member of CoCCA, a group of country-code domains making use of common registry and/or dispute resolution services. .gs is a ...
.


Ecology


Plants


Native plants

The parts of the islands that are not permanently covered in snow or ice are part of the Scotia Sea Islands tundra ecoregion. In total there are 26 species of vascular plant native to South Georgia; six species of grass, four rushes, a single sedge, six ferns, one clubmoss and nine small forbs. There are also about 125 species of moss, 85 of liverworts and 150 lichens, as well as about 50 species of macrofungi. There are no trees or shrubs on the islands. The largest plant is the tussock grass ''
Poa flabellata ''Poa flabellata'', commonly known as tussac grass or just tussac, is a tussock grass native to southern South America, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and other islands in the South Atlantic. There are also two isolated records from the herb ...
''. This grows mostly on raised beaches and steep slopes near the shore and may reach . Other grasses include the tufted fescue (''
Festuca contracta ''Festuca contracta'', commonly known as tufted fescue or land tussac, is a species of true grass (Poaceae). It is native to many subantarctic islands in, and the coasts bordering, the Southern Ocean. The specific epithet comes from the Latin ' ...
''), the Alpine cat's-tail (''
Phleum alpinum ''Phleum alpinum'' is a species of grass known by the common names alpine cat's-tail, alpine timothy and mountain timothy. Distribution ''Phleum alpinum'' has a circumboreal distribution, inhabiting northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere, a ...
'') and Antarctic hair-grass ('' Deschampsia antarctica''), and one of the most common flowering plants is the greater burnet (''
Acaena magellanica ''Acaena magellanica'', commonly called buzzy burr or greater burnet, is a species of flowering plant whose range includes the southern tip of South America and many subantarctic islands. Description ''Acaena magellanica'' is a perennial, mat- ...
'').


Introduced plants

A number of introduced species have become naturalised; many of these were introduced by whalers in cattle fodder, and some are considered invasive. There have been 76 introduced plant species recorded in South Georgia. 35 of these are considered eradicated, with 41 still considered present on the island. 33 of these species are planned for eradication by 2020. It is considered important to control the spread of these exotic species as they readily enter this vulnerable, pristine ecosystem and outcompete populations of native flora for resources (e.g. light, nutrients) and negatively affect small, fragile habitats for the South Georgia fauna. Current pest plant management efforts began in the early 2000s and are primarily targeted toward the species with easier expectations of eradication in the near-term (such as bittercress and procumbent pearlwort), with remaining species to be targeted in future seasons. These programmes involved the collaboration of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Government, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, UK Darwin Initiative and private contractors. The introduced plant species of South Georgia arrived primarily alongside human economic activities in the island and were mostly accidental, (before visitors had an understanding of their consequences). Annual meadow grass (Poa annua) is believed to have arrived approximately 1700 with the first sealers, and is now widespread across the island, particularly old sealing and whaling sites. Dandelions are believed to have been introduced alongside whaling operations, via the practice of including a handful of soil from the deceased whaler's home country. Bittercress was first spotted in 2002 and is thought to have arrived alongside building supplies at King Edward Cove. Introductions have since slowed in recent decades with the introduction of thorough biosecurity protocols. Non-native species management will require several years of regular, dedicated follow-up treatments to ensure that all germinating seed currently in the soil is controlled prior to maturity before success will be achieved.


Birds

South Georgia supports many sea birds, including albatross, a large colony of king penguins, Macaroni penguins and penguins of various other species, along with petrels, prions, shags, skuas, gulls and terns. Birds unique to the archipelago are the South Georgia shag,
South Georgia pipit The South Georgia pipit (''Anthus antarcticus'') is a sparrow-sized bird only found on the South Georgia archipelago off the Antarctic Peninsula. It is the only songbird in Antarctica, South Georgia's only passerine, and one of the few non-seabir ...
, and the
South Georgia pintail The South Georgia pintail (''Anas georgica georgica''), also misleadingly known as the South Georgian teal, is the nominate subspecies of the yellow-billed pintail (''Anas georgica''), a duck in the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae. It is endemic ...
. Both South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands have been identified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) by BirdLife International.


Mammals

Seals frequent the islands, and whales may be seen in the surrounding waters. There are no native land mammals, though
reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...
, brown rats and mice were introduced to South Georgia through human activities. Rats, brought to the island as stowaways on sealing and whaling ships in the late 18th century, have caused much damage to native wildlife, destroying tens of millions of ground-nesting birds' eggs and chicks. While previously the island's glaciers formed a natural barrier to the spread of rats, these glaciers are now slowly melting as the climate warms. In 2011, scientists instituted a four-year programme to entirely eradicate the rats and mice, in what would be by far the largest rodent eradication attempt in the world to date. The project was led by zoologist Anthony Martin of The University of Dundee who stated, "This is a man-induced problem and it's about time that man put right earlier errors." In July 2013, the success of the main phase of the extermination of the rats, which took place in May that year, was announced. 180 tonnes of rat poison, brodifacoum, were dropped over 70% of the island, in what was the world's largest ever operation of this kind. Another 95 tonnes of rat poison was planned to be dropped by three helicopters in January 2015. In June 2015 the eradication programme concluded, apparently successfully, with the island believed "very likely" to be rat free. In 2017–18, an intensive six-month search by the South Georgia Heritage Trust, using sniffer dogs and baited traps, found no evidence of rodent presence. Monitoring will continue for a further two or three years. In 2018, the number of South Georgia pipits had clearly increased. Reindeer were introduced to South Georgia in 1911 by Norwegian whalers for meat and for sport hunting. In February 2011, the authorities announced that due to the reindeer's detrimental effect on native species and the threat of their spreading to presently pristine areas, a complete cull would take place, leading to the eradication of reindeer from the island. The eradication began in 2013 with 3,500 reindeer killed. Nearly all the rest were killed in early 2014, with the last (about 50) cleared in the 2014–15 southern summer.


Marine ecosystem

The seas around South Georgia have a high level of
biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...
. In a recent study (2009–2011), South Georgia has been discovered to contain one of the highest levels of biodiversity among all the
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s on Earth. In respect to species, marine inhabitants endemic to this ecosystem outnumber and (in respect to biodiversity) surpass well-known regions such as the Galápagos or Ecuador. The marine ecosystem is thought to be vulnerable because its low temperatures mean that it can repair itself only very slowly. On 23 February 2012, to protect marine biodiversity, the territory's government created the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Areacomprising .


Military

After the Falklands War in 1982, a full-time British military presence was maintained at
King Edward Point King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumber ...
on South Georgia. This was scaled down during the 1990s until the last detachment left South Georgia in March 2001, after a new station had been built and occupied by the British Antarctic Survey. The main British military facility in the region is at RAF Mount Pleasant and the adjacent
Mare Harbour Mare Harbour 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 ...
naval base on East Falkland, and three Remote Radar Heads on the Falklands:
RRH Mount Kent Mount Kent is a mountain on East Falkland, Falkland Islands, and is high. It is located north of Mount Challenger. History The mountain saw action during the Falklands War during the Assault on Mount Kent, part of the larger Battle of Mo ...
,
RRH Byron Heights Byron Heights is a mountain rising to at the northwest extremity of West Falkland, Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is situated southeast of Hope Point. The mountain's top is occupied by RRH Byron Heights (Remote Radar Head Byron He ...
and
RRH Mount Alice Mount Alice may refer to: * Mount Alice (Alaska) in Alaska, USA * Mount Alice (British Columbia) in British Columbia, Canada * Mount Alice (California) in California, USA * Mount Alice (Colorado) in Colorado, USA * Mount Alice, Falkland Islands ...
. A handful of British naval vessels patrol the region, visiting South Georgia a few times each year and sometimes deploying small infantry patrols. Flights by RAF Airbus A400M and Airbus A330 MRTT (named Atlas and Voyager by the RAF respectively) aircraft also occasionally patrol the territory. A Royal Navy warship carries out the Atlantic Patrol Tasking South mission in the surrounding area. , the Royal Navy ice-patrol ship, operated in the South Georgia area during part of most southern summer seasons until her near loss due to flooding in 2008. She carried out hydrological and mapping work as well as assisting with scientific fieldwork for the British Antarctic Survey, film and photographic units, and youth expedition group
BSES Expeditions The British Exploring Society is a UK-based youth development charity based at the Royal Geographical Society building, aiming to provide young people with an intense and lasting experience of self-discovery in wilderness environments. History The ...
. While the final decision on the fate of ''Endurance'' was pending, the Royal Navy chartered a Norwegian icebreaker, renamed , to act as replacement for three years. In September 2013 the British Ministry of Defence purchased the ship outright. It was announced on 7 October 2013 that ''Endurance'' would be sold for scrap.


See also

*
Bibliography of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oc ...
* Cape Flannery *
Hardy Point Hardy Point () is the western point of Bellingshausen Island in the South Sandwich Islands. It was charted in 1930 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the '' Discovery II'', who named it for Alister C. Hardy, a member of the zoological staff ...
* Herd Point *
Horsburgh Point Horsburgh Point () is a point, northwest of Scarlett Point, on the southwest side of Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands. It was charted in 1930 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the '' Discovery II'', who named it for H. Horsburg ...
*
Hueca Point Hueca Point () is the westernmost point of Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_captio ...
* * * Lists of islands *
Rail transport in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands There are currently no operational railways in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.. However, small industrial railways operated on the quayside of certain ports in South Georgia, to support the whaling industries in the early 20th cent ...


References


Further reading

* Basberg, Bjorn L. – ''The Shore Whaling Stations at South Georgia: A Study in Antarctic Industrial Archaeology.'' *Burton, Robert. ''South Georgia''. (4th edition ed.). The Commissioner, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. * Chaplin, J. M. – ''Narrative of Hydrographic Survey Operations in South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands, 1926–1930.'' *Galbraith, Deirdre. (2011). ''A field guide to the flora of South Georgia''. Great Britain: South Georgia Heritage Trust. . . * Forster, Georg (1777). '' A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop ''Resolution'' Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years 1772, 3, 4 and 5'' (2 vols.). London. * Greene, Dorothy M. – ''A Conspectus of the Mosses of Antarctica, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and Southern South America.'' * Gregory, J. W. – ''Geological Relations and Some Fossils of South Georgia.'' * Hardy, A. C. and E. R. Gunther – ''The Plankton of the South Georgia Whaling Grounds and Adjacent Waters, 1926–1927.'' * Headland, R. K. (1984)
''The Island of South Georgia''
Cambridge University Press. . * Holdgate, Martin W., and Peter Edward Baker
The South Sandwich Islands: I. General description
Vol. 91. British Antarctic Survey, 1979. * Ivanov, Lyubomir, and Nusha Ivanova. ''The World of Antarctica''. Generis Publishing, 2022. 241 pp. * Kemp, Stanley, A. L. Nelson, and G. W. Tyrell – ''The South Sandwich Islands.'' * Kohl-Larsen, Ludwig and William Barr – ''South Georgia, Gateway to Antarctica.'' * Leader-Williams, N. – ''Reindeer on South Georgia: The Ecology of an Introduced Population.'' * Matthews, L. Harrison – ''South Georgia: The British Empire’s Subantarctic Outpost.'' * Murphy, Robert Cushman – ''The Penguins of South Georgia.'' * Ovstedal, DO and RI Lewis Smith – ''Lichens of Antarctica and South Georgia: A Guide to Their Identification and Ecology.'' * Poncet, Sally and Crosbie, Kim. ''A visitor's guide to South Georgia : the essential guide for any visitor''. (2nd edition ed.). Princeton, New Jersey. . * Skottsberg, C. – ''The Vegetation in South Georgia.'' * Stonehouse, Bernard – ''The King Penguin Aptenodytes Patagonica of South Georgia 1. Breeding Behaviour and Development.'' * Upson, Rebecca,. ''Field guide to the introduced flora of South Georgia''. Myer, Bradley, Floyd, Kelvin, Lee, Jennifer, Clubbe, Colin,. Richmond, Surrey, UK. . * Verrill, G. E. – ''Notes on Birds and Eggs from the Islands of Gough, Kerguelen, and South Georgia, With Two Plates.'' * Wheeler, Tony (2004). ''The Falklands & South Georgia Island''. Lonely Planet. .


External links


Government


South Georgia government website

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
'' The World Factbook''.
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. * *
Map of the Argentine claim over Islas Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur


Others


South Georgia Association website

South Georgia Heritage Trust

Live picture from the South Georgia webcam




{{DEFAULTSORT:South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Antarctic region Disputed islands English-speaking countries and territories Important Bird Areas of the British Overseas Territories Lists of coordinates Seal hunting States and territories established in 1985 Territorial disputes of Argentina Volcanic arc islands .South Georgia Dependent territories in South America 1985 establishments in British Overseas Territories Islands of the South Atlantic Ocean South Georgia Important Bird Areas of subantarctic islands