Background: The islands lie approximately 1000 km east of the Falkland Islands. Grytviken on South Georgia was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The 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 a small military garrison. 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 miles to 200 miles around each island.

Map reference: Antarctic Region

Area
Total: total area: 4,066 km²; land area: 4,066 km²; comparative area: slightly larger than Rhode Island; note:includes Shag Rocks, Clerke Rocks, Bird Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: NA km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone:200 nm; territorial sea:12 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

Natural resources: fish

Land use: arable land:0%; permanent crops:0%; meadows and pastures:0%; forest and woodland:0%; other:100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen)

Irrigated land: 0 km²

Geography
Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK

Population: no indigenous population; there is a small military garrison on South Georgia, and the British Antarctic Survey has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited

Environment
Current issues: NA; natural hazards:the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism; international agreements:NA

Country name: conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; conventional short form: none

Government type: dependent territory of the UK

Capital: none; Grytviken on South Georgia is the garrison town

Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)

Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)

National holiday: Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)

Constitution: 3 October 1985

Legal system: English common law

Executive branch: chief of state:Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Commissioner David Everard TATHAM (since August 1992; resident at Stanley, Falkland Islands)

Legislative branch: no elections

Judicial branch: none

Economy overview: Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK.

Budget: revenues:$291,777; expenditures:$451,000, including capital expenditures of $N/A (1988 est.)

Electricity
Capacity: 900 kW
Production: 2 million kWh; consumption per capita:NA kWh (1992)

Telephone system: NA telephones; coastal radio station at Grytviken; local:NA; intercity:NA; international:NA

Airports: none

Disputes international: administered by the UK, claimed by Argentina