FALKLAND, ISLANDS. - An archipelago composed of two larger islands (western F. and eastern F.) and several hundred islets, opposite the eastern entrance to the Strait of Magellan. Plains and elevations (700 m. at most) alternate there.
The distinctly oceanic climate (with mild winters and cool summers) makes them suitable for pastoral farming. Whale hunting is a major resource. Of the 11,060 sq. km., 2,350 inhabitants live there, all English. It is a possession of the English Crown, contested by Argentina and Chile. South Georgia (4,075 sq. km., 360 inhabitants), the South Sandwich and South Orkney Islands (1,858 sq. km.), the South Shetland Islands (2,220 sq. km.), and Graham Land in Antarctica depend upon them. Until 1947 the F. formed part of the apostolic vicariate of Magellano, which in that year was elevated to a diocese. These islands, however, were not included within the territory of the new diocese and at present still depend upon the S. Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, which provides for the care of the 300 Catholics residing there. Giuseppe Ceraci