The Falklands

The Falklands consists of two major islands – West Falkland and East Falkland – along with several smaller islands occupying an area of some 12,200 square km. The Falkland archipelago is geologically part of the continental shelf on the Atlantic coast of Argentina.

A British possession since 1833, when the Argentinians were ousted, the islands have been the object of general attention by Argentina prompting claims to the islands, climaxing in the Falklands War of 1982 when Argentina briefly occupied the islands they call Las Malvinas before being militarily defeated by the British.

The Falklands constitute a British Overseas Territory and over 40% of the 3,600 people on the archipelago are native to the Falklands. The remainder are British stationed there, including a large military presence, along with very small numbers of other ethnicities. The capital is Port Stanley on the Atlantic side of East Falkland.

English on the Falklands has not developed into an independent, focussed variety though it does show some embryonic features. It is of a generally Southern Hemisphere nature and is non-rhotic like other Englishes in that part of the world.

Britain, David, Hannah Hedegard and Andrea Sudbury 2026. The English of the Falkland Islands. In Raymond Hickey (ed.) The New Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6: Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 604-635.