The Falkland Islands are an archipelago formed from continental crust in the South Atlantic Ocean on a projection of the Patagonian Shelf (-51° 42’ latitude and -57° 51’ longitude), 300 miles (483 km) east of South America’s southern Patagonian coast and 800 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The archipelago, with an area of ca. 4,700 miles2 (12,100 km2), comprises East Falklands (where the islands’ capital, Stanley, is located), West Falkland and 776 smaller islands and stacks. |