Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands () is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, and the United Kingdom has exercised "de facto" sovereignty over the archipelago almost continuously since 1833. Argentina has long disputed this claim, having been in control of the islands for a few years prior to 1833. The dispute escalated in 1982, when Argentina invaded the islands, precipitating the Falklands War. Contemporary Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly prefer to remain British. They gained full British citizenship with the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, after British victory
Geography of the Falkland Islands of 778 islands with an area of located in the South Atlantic Ocean on a projection of the Patagonian Shelf. The two principal islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, account for 91% of the land area. These two islands, which have a combined distance of from east to west and from north to south, are separated by the Falkland Sound, a channel that averages in width and has a typical depth of . Cape Meredith on West Falkland is about north-west of the tip of Tierra del Fuego and Westpoint, also on West Falkland and adjacent to West Point Island,