In 1982, when the British "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher visited China with the threat of victory over the Falklands in an attempt to seek to continue colonizing Hong Kong, she was "blocked" by the Chinese "steel company" Deng Xiaoping and fell to the Great Hall of the People, which set the tone for China's smooth recovery of Hong Kong sovereignty. On the other side of the distant globe, Argentina defeated the Malvinas Islands, which are still British overseas territories, while Argentina, which is close at hand, can only "look at the island and sigh". So what is the strategic value of the Malvinas Islands to allow Britain to control half the world?
What is the strategic value of the Malvinas Islands to allow Britain to control half the world? The picture shows an iceberg floating in the Southern Ocean
The Malvinas Islands on the doorstep of Argentina
The Malvinas Islands (known in the United Kingdom as the Falkland Islands) are an archipelago located in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km east of the southern coast of Argentina and about 480 km from the Strait of Magellan, with geographical coordinates ranging from 51°40′-53°00′S and 57°40′-62°00′ W. The entire archipelago consists of East Falkland Island, West Falkland Island and 776 small islands, with a total area of 12,200 square kilometers and a coastline of about 1,300 kilometers, which are divided by the Strait of San Carlos (known as the Falkland Strait) into the West Side of the Great Malvina Island (Known as the West Falkland Islands) and the East Side of Soledad Island (known as the East Falkland Islands).
The Malvinas Islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km east of the southern coast of Argentina and about 480 km from the Strait of Magellan.
The Falklands are the product of continental crust fragments from the division of the gondwana continent into the South Atlantic Ocean 130 million years ago, on the continental shelf of Patagonia.
The Malvinas Islands (hereinafter referred to as the Falklands) are the product of continental crust fragments from the division of the gondwana continent into the South Atlantic Ocean 130 million years ago, located on the continental shelf of Patagonia, the terrain is dominated by mountains and hills, only the Lafonia Peninsula is a sedimentary plain, and there are two east-west lines of mountains in the north of the island, of which Mount Eusborn, located on the island of Soledad at an altitude of 705 meters, is the highest peak of the archipelago. The Coastline of the Falklands is tortuous, with many depressions along the coast forming harbors, and many wide canyons covered with this peat, and the rivers are short and slow.
The Falklands consist of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 small islands with a total area of 12,200 square kilometers and a coastline of about 1,300 kilometers.
The Falklands are located at the border of subarctic and temperate zones, so the climate is cold, windy and humid cold temperate oceanic climate, the whole island climate is changeable, the average annual temperature is 5.6 °C. With an average annual precipitation of 625 mm, it rains up to 250 days a year, with sporadic light snow in the coldest months. The cool, windy climate allows the falklands to be stable, with only minor seasonal variations. In this climate, the island's herbaceous plants are low and dense, especially the large number of grasses such as white grass and rock orchid, while the cold and humid climate also inhibits the complete decay of grass, thus accumulating a deep peat seam that can be used as fuel.
The herbaceous plants on the Falklands are low and dense, especially in the form of overgrown grasses such as white grass and rock orchid.
The Falklands are home to 65 species of birds, including black-browed albatrosses, Falklands, peregrine falcons and striped long-legged eagles, as well as millions of penguins, south sea lions and elephant seals
In addition to peat, the island is also rich in mineral resources such as lead, iron and silver, and there are oil and gas fields distributed offshore. However, due to the influence of alien species brought by humans, many native terrestrial mammals on the island have become extinct, and many birds have turned to the outlying islands to breed. There are 65 species of birds, including black-browed albatrosses, Falklands, peregrine falcons and striped long-legged eagles, as well as millions of penguins, south sea lions and elephant seals, especially rock-jumping penguins, Magellan penguins and Papua penguins, and king penguins and Macaroni penguins are in the minority.
The Falklands are located at the border of subarctic and temperate zones, so the climate is cold, windy and humid cold temperate oceanic climate, and the climate of the whole island is changeable.
The Malvinas Islands are an overseas territory under British control and have internal autonomy, while defence and diplomacy are the responsibility of the British.
To whom should the Malvinas Islands belong?
Today, the Malvinas Islands are an overseas territory under British control, with internal autonomy, while defense and diplomacy are under british responsibility, and the capital of the archipelago is the port of Argentina (known as Port Stanley) in the northeast corner of Soledad, where most of the population of the Falklands is concentrated. According to the 2012 census, excluding the 1,300 British garrisons and their families, there were 2,932 people in the Falklands, 59% of whom were British, 29% of whom were Native British, 9.8% of whom were Of British descent, 5.4% of whom were Chileans, and a small number of Argentines.
The capital of the Falklands is the port of Argentina (known as Port Stanley) in the northeast corner of The Island of Soleida, where most of the population of the Falklands is concentrated.
The capital of the Falklands is the port of Argentina (known as Port Stanley) in the northeast corner of The Island of Soleida, where most of the population of the Falklands is concentrated.
But for sovereignty over the Falklands, both Britain and Argentina claim unquestionable power. Its roots lie in the intricate colonial history of the Malvinas Islands. In 1690, British captain John Sthor was the first to discover the Falkland Strait (the Strait of San Carlos) and documented the island's waters and wildlife, the first landfall on Horse Island, as confirmed by documentation. Later, in 1764, the French captain Louis Antony Bougainville established Port Louis on the island of Soledad (East Falkland), followed by the British captain John McBride in 1766 and also established Port Egmont on Sunders Island, an outlying island of Great Malvina (West Falkland).
Early colonists came to the Malvinas Islands on a model of a sailing ship
Gypsy Bay in the Malvinas Islands
In the same year, Spain inherited the French settlement on the Falklands and renamed Port Louis Puerto Soledad, when the mighty Spain captured the Port of Egmont established by the British in 1770, and finally returned the Port of Egmont to the United Kingdom in the midst of the war crisis. From then on, both the British and the Spaniards had strongholds on the Falklands until 1774, when the British withdrew their troops from the Falklands due to the struggle for the independence of the North American colonies, and then until 1816, when the Falklands were incorporated into the Spanish colonies.
Gypsy Bay near Port of Argentina
Abandoned ships near the Port of Argentina
With the independence of Argentina from the Spanish colonies in South America, declaring the succession of Spanish sovereignty over the Falklands, the political ownership of the Falklands at this time is not disputed, but after the mutiny in 1832, the British garrison made a comeback the following year, reaffirming the sovereignty of the Falklands, and then in 1840 the Falklands officially became a British royal colony, the original Port of Soledad was renamed Port Stanley, and since then, although successive Argentine governments still claim sovereignty over the Falklands, they have been in turmoil and division after their independence. There was no time to shake the British's de facto control of the Falklands.
In the 1982 Anglo-Armagh War, Argentina was defeated and the Falklands were brought back under British control.
After the war, the British expanded their garrison and established the Royal Air Force Base in Mount Pleasant, strengthening military facilities on the Falklands.
Until 1982, argentina and britain on the issue of sovereignty of the Falklands intensified, Argentina took the lead in the occupation of the Falklands, the Anglo-Armay Island War broke out, but two months later Argentina was defeated by the British ocean fleet, the Falklands were back under British control, and after the war, the British expanded the size of the garrison, and established the Mount Pleasant Royal Air Force Base to strengthen the military facilities on the island.
A pavilion decorated with whale bones in front of a church in Port Argentina
Mid-West Point Island on the Falklands inhabit the cliff-jumping penguins on the coast
Behind the sovereignty struggle for the Falklands is the lack of profit sooner
Combing through the nearly three hundred years of colonial history of the Falklands, we will find that for such a long time, France, Britain, Spain and Argentina have all set up strongholds on the islands, and the Falklands themselves are divided into two parts, the East and the West, because of a strait, so it is not fully applicable to the "principle that whoever discovers who occupies is whoever". So now in the struggle for sovereignty over the Falklands, Britain considers itself based on the continued administration of the archipelago since 1833, and the inhabitants of the Falklands "have the right to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations" and have no will to change, so there is no outstanding sovereignty question about the archipelago.
Each of the outlying islands in the Malvinas Archipelago has an island owner (owner), and some small islands are inhabited by couples.
Combing through the nearly three hundred years of colonial history of the Falklands, we will find that for such a long time, France, Britain, Spain and Argentina have all set up strongholds on the island
Argentina, on the other hand, argued that the Falklands did not have the right to self-determination, since the British had invaded illegally in 1833, expelled the Argentine authorities and residents of the islands by threat of force, and prohibited Argentines from settling in the islands. At the same time, Argentina insisted that its sovereignty over the Falklands had been inherited from Spain as early as independence in 1816. In response to this, Chinese officials expressed their support for Argentina's legitimate claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, and stipulated that they should be uniformly marked on the public map as "Malvinas Islands (Argua Agen) (Known as the Falkland Islands)".
The Falklands are roughly the same latitude as the United Kingdom, with scottish pastures everywhere, and the islanders are mainly of British descent.
Of course, China's position is based on historical facts, after all, the issue of sovereignty over the Falklands is a legacy of colonialism; It is also based on relevant UN resolutions, after all, in 2016, the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf determined that the Malvinas Islands are located in argentine territorial waters; It is also based on our own considerations, after all, our Nansha Islands and southern Tibet also have some islands, reefs and areas occupied by other countries, and it is absolutely impossible to give up sovereign power because they have not taken them back for a while.
The Falklands is located at the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan, which is the pass of the South American commercial route, which is very convenient for ship replenishment and maintenance.
The Falklands play an important role in British claims to sub-Antarctic islands and parts of antarctic territory, as shown in the case of countries claiming territorial sovereignty over Antarctica, quoted from the Geo-Valley
The reason why britain is so obsessed with the Falklands, one is that the Falklands are related to the last face of the British Empire, and the other is the strategic value given by the geographical location of the Falklands, because it is located at the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan, which is the pass of the South American commercial route, which is very convenient for ship replenishment and maintenance, and the Falklands and its south of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are geographically integrated, one loses all three, and the Falklands plays an important role in the British territorial claim to sub-Antarctic islands and parts of Antarctica. It was also an auxiliary military base for British control of the South Atlantic, which played a role in both world wars.
With the rise of the "Antarctic Expedition", the Falklands have also begun to develop tourism, and the picture shows the road map of the Three Antarctic Islands Tour
Today, the Malvinas Islands, which are under British control, still rely on sheep breeding and fishing, the issuance of stamps and commemorative coins, and British financial subsidies to maintain economic operations, after all, with the opening of the Panama Canal, except for some super-tonnage iron ore freighters, most ships no longer choose to pass through the Strait of Magellan or the Strait of Drake to complete the east and west coasts of the Americas. Of course, with the rise of "Antarctic adventure tourism", the Falklands have also begun to develop tourism.
The Malvinas Islands, one of the same world, but with different labels on the map.
This is the Malvinas Islands, archipelagos of the same world but marked differently on the map.
References: The Malvinas Islands between Law and History - Marcelo. Cohen; Wikipedia, etc
Last Issue: South Sandwich Islands: Argentina fought with the United Kingdom in 1982 and is now an uninhabited island.
Remarks: This article is only a word of the family, welcome to correct and forward. In addition, the picture in the article is quoted from the Internet, if there is a copyright private link, please delete.