FALKLAND ISLANDS. – An archipelago composed of two main islands (West Falkland and East Falkland) and several hundred islets, situated off the eastern entrance to the Strait of Magellan. Plains and elevations (up to 700 m) alternate across the islands.
The markedly oceanic climate (with mild winters and cool summers) makes them suitable for pastoral activities. A major resource is whale hunting. Of the 11,960 sq km, 2,350 people live there, all of them British. The islands are held by the British Crown, a claim contested by Argentina and Chile. They include South Georgia (4,075 sq km, 360 inhabitants), the South Sandwich Islands and South Orkney Islands (1,658 sq km), the South Shetland Islands (2,220 sq km), and Graham Land in Antarctica. Until 1947 the Falklands belonged to the Apostolic Vicariate of Magellan, which in that year was raised to a diocese. However, the islands were not included in the new jurisdiction and still depend directly on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, which provides for the 300 Catholics living there.
GIUSEPPE CARACI
FALLETTI, Giulia, marchesa di Barolo; see BAROLO GIULIA VITURNIA, FRANCESCA, marchesa di.