1BluePlanet South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands

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1BluePlanet South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands

south georgia & sandw.

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Introduction: SAINT GEORGE ANDTHE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS

The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908, except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. The islands have large bird and seal populations, and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 nm to 200 nm around each island.

GEOGRAPHY
Country name:	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none
Capital:
Location:	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America
Geographic Coordinates:	54 30 S, 37 00 W
Area:	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands
Area Comparative:	slightly larger than Rhode Island
Land Boundaries:	0 km
Coastline:	NA km
Maritime Claims:	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow
Terrain:	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes
Elavation Extremes:	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m
Natural Resources:	fish
GOVERNEMENT
Governement Type:
Administratives Divisions:	Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base
Independence
National Holiday:	Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)
Constitution:	adopted 3 October 1985
Legal System;	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court
Suffrage
Executive Branch:
Legislative Branch:
Judicial Branch:
Political parties and Leaders:
PEOPLE
Population:	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
Median age:
Nationality:
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Religions:
Languages:
COMUNICATIONS
Telephones - main lines in use:
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Telephone system:	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken
Radio broadcast stations:	0 (2003)
Television broadcast stations:	0 (2003)
Internet country code:	.gs
Internet hosts:
Internet users:
TRANSPORT
Railways:
Highways:
Waterways:
Pipelines:
Ports and harbors:	Grytviken
Merchant marine:
Airports:	none (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Heliports: