Airports | none |
Area | total:
3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Rhode Island |
Background | The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses a small military garrison. The islands have large bird and seal populations and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 miles to 200 miles around each island. |
Budget | revenues:
$291,777 expenditures: $451,000, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.) |
Climate | variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow |
Coastline | NA km |
Constitution | adopted 3 October 1985 |
Country name | conventional long form:
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by UK civil commissioner Donald A. LAMONT, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is the garrison town |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Disputes - international | claimed by Argentina |
Economy - overview | Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m |
Environment - current issues | NA |
Flag description | the flag of the UK is used |
Geographic coordinates | 54 30 S, 37 00 W |
Geography - note | the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1993) |
Land boundaries | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply |
Location | Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America |
Map references | Antarctic Region |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 14 June (1982) |
Natural hazards | the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism |
Natural resources | fish |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Grytviken |
Radio broadcast stations | none |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes |
Waterways | none |