East Falkland 578054 225006955 2008-07-11T12:43:51Z Solidice190 7282297 /* History */ {{Infobox Falkland island |Map=Falkland Islands - East Falkland.PNG |latitude=-51.8061 |longitude= -58.7872 |coordinates= {{coor dms|51|48|22|S|58|47|14|W|display=inline,title}} |english name= East Falkland |spanish name= Isla Soledad |meaning of name=Spanish: Isle of Solitude |area={{Unit sqkm|6605|0}} |area rank=1 |highest elevation=[[Mount Usborne]] {{Unit m|705|0}} |main settlement=[[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]] |Population=2197 |population rank=1 |island group=East Falkland |references=<ref>2001 Falkland Islands Census per [http://www.falklands.info/background/census2001t.html]. Figure exclude persons aboard visiting vessels or the estimated number of people temporarily absent. It excludes serving military and their families, but not civilian staff at military bases.</ref> }} [[Image:Johnsonsharbour.jpg|right|thumb|300px|[[Johnson's Harbour]] settlement.]] '''East Falkland''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Isla Soledad'') the largest of the [[Falkland Islands]] in the [[South Atlantic]], has an area of 6,605 square kilometres (2,550 sq mi) [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578569/Falkland_Islands.html]. Its population represents a large majority of the population of the Falklands. Almost all of this is in the northern half. The southern half, joined by a narrow [[isthmus]], is known as [[Lafonia]]. ==Geography== [[Image:Gypsy-Cove.jpg|thumb|275px|[[Gypsy Cove]], East Falkland]] The island's highest point is [[Mount Usborne]] (705 m / 2,313 ft) in the [[Wickham Heights]], the highest point in the whole island group. However, much of the land has a low, rolling topography, featuring bogs and pastures. The geology is mostly [[sandstone]], with some [[quartzite]] and [[slate]], and the soil often poor and acidic. The island is almost bisected by two deep [[fjord]]s, [[Choiseul Sound]] and [[Brenton Loch]]-[[Grantham Sound]] which leaves the northern portion and [[Lafonia]] in the south, connected only by an isthmus a mile and a half wide. The island contains many smaller bays, inlets and headland. The northern portion is hilly, and is crossed by a rugged range, the Wickham Heights, running east and west, and rising in some places to a height of nearly {{convert|2000|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The remainder of the island consists chiefly of low undulating ground, a mixture of pasture and morass, with many shallow freshwater tarns, and small streams running in the valleys. Two fine inlets, Berkeley Sound and Port William, run far into the land at the northeastern extremity of the island. Other scenery includes [[stone run]]s covered with [[snake plant]], [[heathland]], and [[bog]]s. [[Gypsy Cove]] is noted as a beauty spot. ==Population and infrastructure== [[Image:Christchurch-Cathedral.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Christchurch Cathedral in Stanley]] East Falkland is home to [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]], the capital of the islands and the main [[seaport]]. The islands' ([[Anglican]]) Christchurch [[cathedral]] is also in Stanley. Port Louis, formerly the seat of government, is at the head of Berkeley Sound, but the anchorage there having been found rather too exposed, about the year 1844 a town was laid out, and the necessary public buildings were erected on Stanley Harbour, a sheltered recess within Port William. Other settlements include [[Port Louis, Falkland Islands|Port Louis]], [[Darwin, Falkland Islands|Darwin]], [[Port San Carlos]], [[San Carlos, Falkland Islands|San Carlos]], [[Salvador, Falkland Islands|Salvador]], [[Johnson's Harbour]], [[Fitzroy, Falkland Islands|Fitzroy]], [[Mare Harbour]], and [[Goose Green]]. The island is also home to two [[airport]]s with paved runways, [[Port Stanley Airport]] and [[RAF Mount Pleasant]]. There is a lighthouse at Cape Pembroke near Stanley. The island contains most of the archipelago's road network, which is none the less, scanty. ==Economy== [[Image:East-Falkland.jpg|right|300px|thumb|House in East Falkland ([[Teal Inlet]])]] The main industries on the island are [[fishing]], [[sheep farming]], [[government]], and [[tourism]]. Some oats are also grown, but due to high humidity and acidic soil, the land is mainly used for grazing. As Stanley is the capital, and East Falkland is the most populous island, it performs an economic role as the hub of the archipelago. Many [[cruise ship]]s now stop there. A large economic role is also played by [[RAF Mount Pleasant]], which has a number of British military personnel based there. Although these number a few hundred, their economic role in a population of under two thousand cannot be underestimated. Smaller industries include horse and cattle farming, and there is also recent evidence to suggest possible valuable mineral deposits on the island. ==Wildlife== Due to more intensive human settlement, East Falkland has the corresponding conservation problems. The [[warrah]] was one of the first casualties, as [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] says in ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]'': :''"The only quadruped native to the island is a large wolf-like fox (Canis antarcticus), which is common to both East and [[West Falkland]]. I have no doubt it is a peculiar species... Their numbers have rapidly decreased; they are already banished from that half of the island which lies to the eastward of the neck of land between [[St. Salvador Bay]] and [[Berkeley Sound]]. Within a very few years after these islands shall have become regularly settled, in all probability this fox will be classed with the [[dodo]], as an animal which has perished from the face of the earth.''" Rats have also been introduced, but despite this, the island has a great deal of marine life, including [[penguin]]s of various kinds. [[Guanaco]]s were unsuccessfully introduced in 1862 to East Falkland south of Mt Pleasant where [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]] hunted them in 1871 [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16712001]. They have since become extinct, but are still on [[Staats Island]] [[Charles Darwin]] surveyed the area's wildlife, while on ''[[HMS Beagle]]''. ==History== [[Image:Hope-Place.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Falkland [[gaucho]]s having [[Mate (beverage)|mate]] at [[Hope Place]] - Saladero, East Falkland. Watercolour by Dale, manager of Hope Place in the 1850s.]] [[Image:Sapper-Hill-Corral.jpg|thumb|right|300px|One of the remaining historic [[corral]]s at Sapper Hill, near Stanley]] [[Image:Buzo-t.jpg|thumb|One of the Argentinian [[Comandos Anfibios|amphibious commandos]] after the fall of [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]]'s [[Government House (Falkland Islands)|Government House]]]] {{main|History of the Falkland Islands}} Although there is possible evidence of [[Fuegians|Yahgan]] ([[Patagonia]]n native) landings, such as the [[warrah]], the first accepted settlement was during the 18th century when East Falkland was settled by the French, with [[Louis de Bougainville]] establishing [[Port Louis, Falkland Islands|Port Louis]] on [[Berkeley Sound]] in 1764. The French settlement included a number of [[Breton people|Bretons]], and the islands became known as "Îles Malouines" (the islands of [[St Malo]]), later hispanicised as "Islas Malvinas". For years, Port Louis was the main settlement, not only on East Falkland, but the entire archipelago and a subject of controversy. On 6 November 1820, Colonel [[David Jewett]], an American privateer employed as captain by a Buenos Aires businessman Patrick Lynch who had obtained a corsair license for his frigate [[Heroina|''Heroina'']] from the Buenos Aires Supreme Director Jose Rondeau, raised the flag of the [[United Provinces of the River Plate]] at Port Louis, and claimed possession of the entire archipelaho in the name of the United Provinces of the South (which later became the United Provinces of The River Plate and ultimately Argentina). In 1823, Argentina granted fishing rights to Jorge Pacheco and [[Luis Vernet]], who finally succeeded on establishing a permanent settlement at [[Puerto Soledad]] three years later. "[[Puerto Luis]]" as it was renamed became a [[penal colony]], seal hunting base and small fishing port. Vernet later seized the American ship, Harriet, for breaking the restrictions on seal hunting. Property on board the ship was seized and the captain was returned to Buenos Aires to stand trial. Vernet also returned for the trial. The American Consul in Argentina protested the actions by Vernet, stating that the United States did not recognise Argentine sovereignty in the Falklands. Therefore, the consul dispatched the USS Lexington warship to the Puerto Luis to retake the confiscated property, as well as the "Superior" and "Breakwater" which had also been seized. As a result, the [[USS Lexington (1825)|USS Lexington]] destroyed Puerto Luis in 1832, an act which was later condoned by the American ambassador in Buenos Aires, who declared the [[Falkland Islands]] free from any power. These events provided the spur for Britain to finally and permanently return to the islands, (''See [[Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)]]''), requesting that the [[Argentina|Argentine]] military presence leave on [[3 January]] [[1833]] (although members of the settlement were encouraged to remain). "Puerto Luis" was initially renamed "Ansons Harbour" before reverting to "Port Louis" in line with the original [[France|French]] name of the settlement [[Port Saint Louis]], and was became a naval garrison and civilian settlement. Shortly after this, the [[second voyage of HMS Beagle]] surveyed the island. The names of two settlements on East Falkland, [[Darwin, Falkland Islands|Darwin]] and [[Fitzroy, Falkland Islands|Fitzroy]], commemorate [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Robert FitzRoy]] respectively. On the [[15 March]] [[1833]], an unimpressed Darwin commented that :''After the possession of these miserable islands had been contested by France, Spain, and England, they were left uninhabited. The government of Buenos Aires then sold them to a private individual, but likewise used them, as old Spain had done before, for a penal settlement. England claimed her right and seized them. The Englishman who was left in charge of the flag was consequently murdered. A British officer was next sent, unsupported by any power: and when we arrived, we found him in charge of a population, of which rather more than half were runaway rebels and murderers.'' (''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''.) This "rebellious" population would have lived on East Falkland, as there was no permanent presence on West Falkland at this time. In 1836, the island was surveyed by Admiral George Grey, and further in 1837 by Lowcay. Admiral George Grey, conducting the geographic survey in November 1836 had the following to say about their first view of East Falkland - :''We anchored a little after sunset off a creek called '[[Johnson's Harbour]]'. The day having been cloudy with occasional showers, these islands at all times dreary enough, looked particularly so on our first view of them, the shores of [[Berkeley Sound|sound]], steep, with bare hills intersected with ravines rising from them, these hills without a tree and the clouds hanging low, gave them exactly the appearance of the [[Cheviots]] or a [[Scotland|Scotch]] moor on a winter's day and considering we were in the May of these latitudes, the first impression of the climate was not favourable, the weather however, was not called, the thermometer was 63 degrees which is [[Howick, Northumberland|Howick]] mid-summer temperature.'' In 1845 Mr Samuel Fisher Lafone, a wealthy cattle and hide merchant from [[Montevideo]] on the [[Río de la Plata|River Plate]], obtained from the British government a grant of the southern portion of the East Falkland, which was a peninsula {{convert|600000|acre|km2}} in extent, and possession of all the wild cattle on East Falkland for a period of six years, for a payment of £10,000 down, and £20,000 in ten years from January 1, 1852. In 1851 Mr Lafone's interest in [[Lafonia]], as the peninsula came to be called, was purchased for £30,000 by the [[Falkland Islands Company]], which had been incorporated by charter in the same year. Lafone himself never visited the islands. The remnants of this endeavour are the ruins at [[Hope Place]] and the stone corral at Darwin. In 1859, [[Darwin, Falkland Islands|Darwin]] was founded. Although used for [[sheep farming]] since the early nineteenth century, East Falkland was dominated by cattle farming until the 1850s. In 1925 the [[Bodie Suspension Bridge]] was built across a creek in Lafonia, and is said to be the southernmost in the world, and is still in pedestrian use today. ===1982 invasion and Falklands War=== In April, 1982, East Falkland was [[1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands|invaded by Argentina]], which had never given up its claim. Governor Sir Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on Wednesday [[March 31]]. The Governor summoned the two senior [[Royal Marines]] officers of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. Major [[Mike Norman]] RM was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major [[Gary Noott]] RM became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. But their numbers were reinforced by 25 [[Falkland Islands Defence Force]] (FIDF) members. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Sommers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the [[telephone exchange]], the [[radio station]] and the [[power station]]. Skipper Jack Solis, onboard the civilian coastal ship ''Forrest'' operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley. East Falkland was also the location of the bulk of the action in the [[Falklands War]], partly because most of the population lived there. As a result, a number of parts of the [[Camp (Falkland Islands)|"Camp"]] in East Falkland are still heavily mined. Areas that saw intensive action included [[Goose Green]], [[San Carlos]], [[Mount Longdon]] and the Two Sisters ridge. ==Present day== [[Image:Goose-Green.JPG|right|thumb|300px|[[Goose Green]]]] Following the Falkland War, Britain increased its military presence on the East Falkland and invested heavily in improving facilities in Stanley and transportation around the islands, tarmacking many roads. The population has risen, due to the growth of Stanley, but has declined in the [[Camp (Falkland Islands)|Camp]]. Most of the improvements in the islands have taken place on East Falkland. ====List of East Falkland battles==== * [[Battle of Goose Green]] * [[Battle of Mount Harriet]] * [[Battle of Two Sisters]] * [[Battle of Mount Longdon]] * [[Battle of Mount Tumbledown]] * [[Battle of Wireless Ridge]] The [[Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)|re-establishment of British rule in 1833]] involved East Falkland to a large degree. ==References== * {{1911}} * Southby-Tailyour, Ewen: ''Falkland Island Shores''. <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/HTJ.htm British Triumph on East Falkland] * [http://www.cybamuse.com/antarctica/falklands.htm Pictures of East Falkland] {{Template group |list = {{Falkland Islands topics}} {{coor title dms|51|48|22|S|58|47|14|W|region:FK_type:isle}} }} [[Category:East Falkland| ]] [[Category:Islands of the Falkland Islands]] [[da:East Falkland]] [[de:Ostfalkland]] [[es:Isla Soledad]] [[fr:Falkland orientale]] [[gl:Illa Soidade]] [[he:אי פוקלנד המזרחי]] [[lt:Rytų Folklandas]] [[hu:Kelet-Falkland]] [[nl:Oost-Falkland]] [[ja:東フォークランド島]] [[pl:Falkland Wschodni]] [[fi:Itä-Falkland]]